White Teeth Teens
by peanutj
Summary: After a blissfully uneventful summer, Charlie Daehler is once again disappointed when Beacon Hills lives up to it's name. As new threats approach, she struggles to balance a relationship with the boy who runs with wolves while still breaking into her new found werewofldom. Can their relationship survive the never-ending supernatural shit storm?
1. Tattoo

**HELLO READERS! So this is a sequel to Royals (and yes, I'm doing a thing with Lorde songs) and it can be read alone, but just think canonically while you do. You'll probably be confused if you don't read Royals, but I recommend you do to save yourself a headache. Anyways, this chapter is a bit slow to begin with, but this is easily one of my favorite seasons. I'm not gonna lie, I was confused whenever I first saw the episodes because of the whole sacrificing rituals and emissaries and druids, but now I get it and am ready to put it in writing!**

**Okay, I'll shut up now so you guys can read and hopefully review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Wolf or any other recognizable items otherwise I wouln't be a broke college student, amirite kids?**

* * *

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

I groggily rolled over and cracked one eye open as it stared up at the ceiling. If I turn off the alarm clock that means The Man would win this battle. And by The Man I mean school, standard werewolf duties, and it also means the official end of summer.

Four months.

Four blissful months of tanning, hanging out by the pool, sleeping in, and most importantly, I did absolutely nothing. And yes I count ignoring and avoiding Derek the entire time nothing. It takes a lot to avoid him and already knew I was gonna get torn into when I got back into town. So I prolonged my stay in Arizona by any means possible. Although, I'm pretty sure my mom was trying to push me out of her house because I kept trying to set her up with someone. All the woman did was work and she deserved a little something something on the side, right? Unfortunately, she only buried herself into more work. Oh, well. Criminals can't defend themselves. I mean they _can _but it wouldn't pan out to well if they didn't have a lawyer defending them. Stiles wasn't too thrilled about me continuously extending my stay, but he did manage to come and hide out with me for a week. I'm sure he was terrified of my mom the entire time, but I'm even surer that that was her goal. The second he got back in Beacon Hills, Derek was all over him. Luckily he kept it simple and said I was safe and hadn't killed anyone.

My phone began vibrating and I rolled over to answer it without checking the caller ID. I answered the phone with something that sounded close enough to the word 'Hello.'

"Wow, you sound thrilled to be talking to me," Stiles answered in a flat tone. I rubbed my eyes as the alarm continued to loudly go off. "Charlie, is—is that your alarm clock going off right now?"

"Mhm," I mumbled, rolling back on my back to stare at the ceiling. "If I turn it off it means the end."

"The end of what?"

"My life," I sighed dramatically. Stiles muttered an almost undistinguishable 'oh my god' that I refused to ignore. "You wouldn't understand, it's a secret."

"It's a secret, or I wouldn't understand?"

"You would understand, Stiles; it's a secret," I repeated cryptically. I heard shuffling on my end of the phone before Stiles spoke again. This time he was louder and clearer.

"Okay, no time for riddles this morning, Char. Get up, get dressed, meet me at school, and for the love of _god_ turn that damn alarm clock off," he spewed. I rolled my eyes and balled my hand into a fist. I slammed my hand down near the general direction of my alarm clock. There was a crash followed by the remains of my clock hitting the ground. After silence on the other end of my phone, I smirked.

"You didn't."

"Oh, but I did," I boasted. "Besides you're wake-up call is ten times better than that screeching hot mess."

"Good, because I'm your new and improved alarm clock that you can't smash to death and there's nothing you can do about it, Daehler, so get up," he said with confidence. I opened to mouth to tell him that was up otherwise he's talking to something other she-wolf named Charlotte Daehler. "And I mean get up out of bed, I know you're awake."

"You're good, Stilinksi."

"That's what they tell me," he quipped. I sat up in my bed and promptly threw the warm covers off.

"I'll see you at school, okay?"

"See ya."

I hung up the phone and tossed it on my bed beside me. I took in my new room around me which was still weird to wake up to. While I was gone, my mom suggested that my dad and I move to a smaller place. After all, it was just the two us anyways. I was a bit skeptical about moving around after what happened, but was immediately won over once I found out the only thing I had to do was pack up my room. All I did was bribe Isaac, Scott and Stiles with promises of pizza and video games. Thank god for simple boys.

I literally rolled out of bed and somersaulted into a classic ninja roll. Maybe, just maybe Derek's dramatics had rubbed off of me a bit. Or maybe that was just may of coping after not seeing him for so long.

Nah, that's not it.

Once I landed on my feet, I was fully awake and headed to the bathroom to shower where my things and my things only were occupying the space which was still weird to see too. Wrapped in a towel, I headed back into my room and shifted through the closet until I found something suitable. Jeans and a t-shirt. Totally didn't see that coming, right?

I'm more than positive that Lydia would cringe the second she saw me, but there was literally nothing she could. Plus kicking ass is a lot easier when you're jeans and a t-shirt. Unfortunately, the weather was on my T.V. as mostly background noise and I was forced to change into something more weather appropriate because of the cooler temperature. I headed back to my closet and ran a hand through my damp hair. I decided to keep the jeans and held up a grey oversized sweater with narrowed eyes. "If I had to fight someone while wearing this, could I kick ass?" I asked aloud. After deciding yes, I quickly got dressed and let my hair fall in its natural waves. I sprayed it lightly to avoid resembling a troll doll and checked the time. Seeing that I was already running late, I quickly slid on my black Converse and grabbed my backpack, keys, phone, and headed out the door.

I had almost forgotten where I was for a split second when I emerged from inside only to be meet with a hallway of the apartment complex. I locked the door behind me and headed to the elevator.

* * *

I slung my car into a parking spot and almost took a couple of kids out in the process. I caught Scott and Stiles as they were heading to English. I easily caught up with them and sent tapped on their backs simultaneously. I would have done the classic cover-someone-eyes-and make-them-guess trick, but I was a prime cautionary tale of doing that to a werewolf. Let's just say I accidently put a grown man in the hospital. Well, he turned out to be my uncle's brother best friend. But hey, how was I supposed to know that if last time I saw when I was just a baby? Please forgive my 6 month old memory. "Guess who?"

"Charlie?" Scott asked, stopping and spinning around. He scanned me up and down quickly and reached to hug me. I quickly returned the gesture with a tight squeeze. I did the same with Stiles and lingered a bit as we sent each other sly smiles. "How are you? How was your summer?"

"Pretty good," I nodded with a slight blush, gripping my backpack. "Yours?"

"It was okay, I guess. Pretty _placid_," he grinned. His smile was contagious as I too smiled. I looked to Stiles who was nodding in approval.

"He's been studying for the PSAT's."

"It shows, buddy," I agreed with a nod. We began walking to class as a group. "You talk to Allison any?" Scott and Stiles both shared a look before diverting their attention. God, these two were horrible at keeping secrets from someone. _Especially_ from me. I'm betting on myself to figure it out before the school day is over.

"Hey, Charlie," Stiles attempted to deflect. "I'm loving the tan. You're practically as Mexican as Scott now."

My hand automatically went up to swat Stiles square in the chest. A gust of air left his lung in response and he let out a loud groan. I couldn't tell if he was being dramatic or if I actually did hurt way I didn't regret it. Once we got to the classroom, we took seats next to each other in different rows. I was directly next to the window and Stiles was stuck in the middle while Lydia was sitting in front of me staring into her compact mirror. "Cute outfit," she complimented without looking away from her reflection.

"Thanks," I grinned, tugging at the bottom of my sweater as I sat down. Stiles had watched the whole interaction and was now blatantly staring at me. Stiles and I had a complicated relationship. And I know people who say that generally aren't together, but our relationship was genuinely complicated. We would act like a couple one second, and then would completely flip the script the next. I know for a fact I could be moody, but I still can't tell if Stiles patience for my moodiness was wearing off.

But since the summer was completely drama free (aside from that one time I almost killed this guy in the woods. I decided that I was ready to be with Stiles. The thought itself made my palms sweaty and I started bouncing my leg up and down from the nerves. Scott shot me look from over Stiles. He mouthed the words 'are you okay?'

"I'm copacetic," I nodded and shot him a thumbs up. I mentally rolled my eyes at hearing my own heart betray me. He blinked with a frown on his face and leaned toward my direction to ask another question until my eyes shot over to the door. His eyes followed my line of vision to where Allison was nervously scanning the room for an empty seat. Having no choice, she walked to the only empty seat that was in front of Scott. I folded my hands to place them under my chin and watched the awkward interaction with narrowed eyes. They were all definitely hiding something from me.

Hopefully English wouldn't be too hard this year. Rumor has it that it's pretty much reading novels and showing up. It sounds easy enough, but then again everything does sounds easy in the beginning and then it goes to shit. Ugh. I'm trying to be more optimistic about things considering my anger was still my anchor. But now that I was back in town, I could be moody to people who deserved it.

A chorus of vibrating and beeping began in the room brought me out of my thoughts. I checked my phone as everyone else did and read the message from an unknown number.

_The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds and the tranquil waterway, leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under—_

"An overcast sky, seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness," a young woman quoted. "This is the last line to the first book we are going to read. It is also the last text you will receive in this class. Phones off, everyone," she ordered. My guess was that she was the new English teacher. Pretty cool way to enter class on the first day I guess, but what I'm really concerned about is how she got everyone's number. I shut off my phone and shoved it in my pocket. Soon after class started, Scott was excused and rushed out of the classroom. Ms. Blake rushed after him and gave him a very short-lived lecture about attendance.

Already growing bored, I twirled my wavy hair around my finger and began gazing out of the window. In the sky there was giant flock of birds circling the school. I frowned up and the scene and was practically hanging on the edge of my seat trying to get a better view. There was an awful feeling in the pit of stomach that something bad was about to happen. I could be rusty. I hadn't had the feeling in months and the first time it comes back is when a flock of birds are circling above the school.

"Mrs. Daehler, can you tell me the birthplace of Joseph Conrad?" M. Blake called out. I whipped my head toward her and quickly slid back into my seat. I looked over at Stiles who looked just as confused as I did. Allison was reading ahead in the novel we were just assigned. I glanced at Lydia who was staring at me expectantly. "Berdychiv, Ukraine," she practically mouthed loud enough only for me to pick up. I blinked slowly in confusion and hoped to god I was going to pronounce this right.

"Berty-chive, Ukraine?" I cringed, tilting my head. Lydia let out a short sigh while a few students laughed. Ms. Blake opened her mouth to correct me, I'm sure, but was cut off by a bird flying into the window. I whipped my head to where the blood was left over. I quickly stood up to the window and looked up to see the giant flock of birds flying toward the windows.

"Get down, everyone! Get down, down," Ms. Blake yelled. Because I waited so soon to get down, I crouched down with my back facing the wall and felt feathers and glass crash over me. I didn't want to move because of Birdnado happening right now so I was forced to stay pinned against the wall with my arms covering my head. I tried my best to ignore all the racing heartbeats, screams, and the screeching noises being emitted from the birds.

Terror was radiating from everyone until it disappeared when it became eerily silent. My deduction was that the terror was coming from the birds and not everyone else who were just scared and flustered. Slowly, I removed my arms from their spot around my head. I stood up as the glass fell off and shattered even more. I frowned as I began to shake some pieces from my hair. The classroom was covered in paper, feathers, birds, and glass.

"Charlotte, are you okay?" Ms. Blake asked with a terrified look on her face. I nodded and walked over to Stiles and Lydia who were wearing matching surprised faces.

"You guys okay?" They both nodded in sync while dusting themselves off. Allison was separated and digging through her bag for her phone. I continued picking the glass and feathers out of my hair the best I could. "I have no idea what that was, but all I know is that those birds were _terrified_," I sighed. Lydia and Stiles both shared a look and then looked back to me. "What? What is it that you're not telling me?"

They shared another look before they each took a step toward me. "Last night a deer ran straight into Lydia's car," Stiles whispered.

"So what? Deer run into cars all the time," I reasoned with furrowed eyebrows.

"He ran _straight_ into my windshield," Lydia explained. "Head on like we weren't even there."

"We?"

"Allison and I."

"So a deer ran straight into your windshield?" I repeated with confusion in my voice. "What does that have to do with the birds?"

"Scott said it was scared," Lydia said with hesitation.

"Terrified actually," Stiles corrected. "And Lydia's dog bit her."

"Has she, er, he? Ever bit you?"

"She, and no."

I bit my lip in thought. "Maybe we should ask Derek?"

"No, absolutely not," Stiles argued, shaking his head and stepping back.

"Why not? He might know what the hell is going on," I protested. "Plus, I sort of owe him an explanation."

"You're expanding on your worst idea, Char."

"Okay, Stiles," Lydia interrupted. "Call Scott and let him know what just happened. And you," she pointed. "Let me fix your hair because it's starting to resemble an actual bird's nest." I narrowed my eyes at Lydia who grabbed my wrist and led me to her bag and where her desk once was. "What too soon?"

I lifted an eyebrow in response and sat down in a desk. Allison was deep in a conversation with her dad while Lydia began picking out the missed glass shards and feathers. She hummed to herself while braiding a fishtail braid and let it fall over my shoulder once she was done. I nodded in an approving manner once I saw the end result. "How'd you do this?"

"Practice." Lydia simply shrugged. "I could teach you if you want."

"Sure," I agreed with a shrug of my own. I didn't have anything to do other than unpack some stuff at the apartment. But who am I kidding? I'm gonna be living out of suitcases and boxes for _long_ time.

"Great! Girl's night at Allison's," she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She sent me one last smile before walking away.

"Witchcraft," I muttered examining the braid again. A few parents had shown up and were comforting their own kids. I didn't expect my dad to show up because he was working tonight and was sleeping until then. Or maybe he was wide awake and figured I could handle something like a giant flock of birds hurdling themselves toward a school with windows for walls. Whatever his reason may be, I was still alone at school to deal with it. I got up to grab my stuff and figured class was being cut short. I needed to unpack my backpack and was in no mood to lug this damn thing around all day. I slung my bag on my back and sat on top of the desk next to Stiles. "Hey, wann—"

I was cut off by a shush and a single finger in my face. I pursed my lips in annoyance and followed Stiles line of vision to where his dad and Mr. Argent were talking.

"All this bizarre animal behavior, it's... you must have seen something like this before, right?" Sheriff Stilinski asked.

"I'm not sure why I would or why you would think I would," Mr. Argent denied. I rolled my in an elaborate manner and almost scoffed aloud. C'mon man, it's not like you weren't subtle with your firearms, you're sociopath dad, and let's not forget the infamous family code. But bygones are bygones. Especially when sociopathic family members aren't your fault.

"I'm sorry. I—I could've sworn I overheard my son talking about how you were an experienced hunter."

"Ah, right. Well, not anymore."

I accidentally left out a snort of laughter which earned me some looks from Sheriff Stilinksi and Mr. Argent. I plastered a guilty look on my face and didn't even bother to excuse myself as I stood up to walk away. Stiles was two steps ahead of me as he grabbed my wrist and lead me to a corner of the classroom while he dialed Scott's number.

"We got a serious problem at school. Ms. Blake's class," he began vaguely. Oh, okay, so I'm not the only he doesn't say hello to. I leaned against the wall awkwardly because of my completely full bag and listened in on their conversation.

"Hey, can you tell me about it later?"

"Well, no pretty sure this qualifies for immediate discussion."

"Okay, then meet me at Derek's."

A smirked snaked its way on my face as Stiles' face did the exact opposite. "Derek's house? What the hell are you doing at—?"

"Just meet us here, okay?"

"Ha," I rejoiced as Stiles angrily pushed the end button on his phone. "My worst idea just became your only choice."

He refused to make eye contact with until he crossed his arms in a pout. "You know it's rude to listen in on people's conversations."

"I'll remember that the next time you want to listen to your dad's police radio," I quipped while walking away to leave the classroom that was slowly emptying. I felt Stiles gape at me as I sauntered away.

"What? No wait, that's different."

* * *

After an entire car ride of arguing what was simply listening in on conversations and what was _illegal_, we had made it to Derek's thoroughly annoyed with each other. I watched as Stiles shut his door with a creak. I narrowed my eyes as I followed behind him. God that boy drives me absolutely _crazy_ and one day he's gonna find himself in jail for something _totally fucking stupid_ and I'll be there lecturing him while he's doing time the entire time with no regrets.

Kidding. I would bail him out. Kid's too pretty for jail.

With a heavy sigh, I crossed my arms and followed Stiles inside the house where Scott and Derek where sitting in what used to be the living room. Derek's head snapped toward me in which I reacted with wide eyes. "Four months. Seriously, four months?"

Stiles oh so politely moved from in front of me so I Derek and I could see each other face to face. I blinked and glanced up at the ceiling as a poor diversion tactic. "It was an accident?"

"If you're gonna lie, then be a little less obvious about it."

"Okay," I said, eyeing the blowtorch in his hand. "Maybe we could have this conversation while you aren't holding a blowtorch?"

"No," he answered without skipping a beat.

I pursed my lips in thought before deciding that was fair enough. "Look, it was the summer. I was fine. Yeah, I slipped up once, but the guy turned out fine and it was his fault fo—"

"You turned in front of someone?" He asked, standing up from his crouched position.

I uncrossed my arms and let them fall by my sides. "No. Maybe. Look, he snuck up on me as a joke and I freaked out, but it's fine. I have an anchor and went into hiding every full moon like a recluse. I did everything I was supposed to, okay?"

"What's your anchor?" He asked, crossing his arms and putting on an unimpressed face.

"Anger," I answered quickly. It's true for the most part. Anger _was_ part of my anchor, but so was Stiles. I decided to leave that part out for my own sanity because I don't need any more reasons for him to drive me insane. With that short answer, Derek's face softened and Scott stood up to diffuse the tension in the room. "C'mon Derek, just cut her a break; she had a long year."

"Thank you, Scott," I said, suddenly become more interested in the floor.

"Fine, but you have to make up for all the training you missed," he declared, sitting back down. "You're gonna need it."

I rolled my eyes at Derek's never-ending ominous tone and looked at a silent Stiles. He threw his hands up in front of him and shrugged. Eh, it's better than him saying 'I told you so' about this being my worst idea. I narrowed my eyes at him as I walked over to where Derek and Scott were sitting in close quarters. "What are you guys doing anyways?" I sighed as I watched Derek observe Scott's bicep. After taking the deep breath, I recognized Isaac's scent mixed in with everyone else's. "And why do you smell like Isaac?" I asked Derek.

"I'm the one who should be asking you questions," he replied, not looking away from Scott's arm.

"He's giving me a tattoo," Scott explained, pointing to two bands that were drawn in the dust on the floor.

"Why is this so important to you?" Derek asked, looking up at Scott. "Do you know what the word "tattoo" means?"

"To mark something," Stiles answered, coming to stand behind Scott.

"Well, that's in Tahitian. In Samoan, it means open wound," Scott corrected. "I knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I turned 18. I always wanted one. I just decided to get it now, to make it kind of a reward."

"For what?"

"For not calling or texting Allison all summer. Even when I really wanted to, even when it was so hard not to sometimes. I was trying to give her the space she wants. Goin' four months later, it still hurts. It still feels like a, uh," he trailed off with a frown.

"Like an open wound," Stiles finished, staring at me.

"Yeah."

"The pain's gonna be worse than anything you've ever felt," Derek casually informed.

"Ah," Stiles sighed. "That's great."

"Do it," Scott egged, bracing himself. With a click of a button, Derek turned on the blowtorch.

"Oh, wow," Stiles groaned. "That's a... that's a lot for me. So I'm gonna take that as my cue. I'm just gonna wait outside," he pointed, moving to leave.

"Nope," Derek argued. "You can help hold him down."

"Ah—what? Why me?"

"Because you two," he gestured at Stiles and I. "Have officially bumped your way to the top of the 'Throats I'm Gonna Rip Out' list."

I lifted an eyebrow as I measured Stiles' face. "You have a list?"

"Just do it!"

Stiles and I both jumped at the sound of Derek's tone and move to hold down Scott. Judging Stiles' reaction, I'm thinking I'm gonna have to hold _him_ down from squirming so much. Eventually Scott passed out from the pain and his body went limp.

"So, uh," I hesitated as I watched Derek intricately tattoo Scott. "How long have you been tattooing werewolves?"

Derek immediately stopped what he was doing to glare at me. With that, I promptly left the room and followed Isaac's scent into different room where he was lying still and unconscious. I folded my legs under me to maneuver down to his level and took in his appearance. I timidly placed a hand on Isaac's forehead and found it was uncharacteristically cold and damp. He was wearing a hospital gown and I wondered what the hell happened while I was gone.

"Is he okay?" Stiles asked from the doorway.

"Heartbeat is a little slow," I sighed, removing my hand but keeping my eyes on Isaac. "But he seems fine for the most part."

"That's good, I guess," he shrugged. With a sigh, I stood up and walked over to Stiles who hands were stuffed in his pockets. "So, all that stuff you were saying about your anchor."

"What about it?"

"Is it true? Is it just anger?"

I bit my lip and focused my gaze on the scene of Derek tattooing an unconscious Scott. "Yeah."

"Yeah, it's true or yeah, it's just anger?" Stiles asked, trying to meet me gaze.

I blinked up at him and furrowed my eyebrows. "Why does is matter if I don't end up killing or maiming anyone when the full moon comes around?"

"It's just—You can't walk around angry all time or you'll end up like…" he trailed off leaning around the corner to check to see if anyone, specifically Derek, was listening. "Like Derek," he finished in a whisper.

"Stiles," I huffed with an eye roll. "Is this really an appropriate time to be having this conversation?" I asked pointing to each Scott and Isaac. "I mean, really?"

"Yes, dammit. We're having this conversation right now," he declared, flailing his arms.

"Well, that's too bad because Scott's waking up."

As if on cue Scott gasped loud enough for Stiles to hear. He looked back to see if my prediction was true, and whipped his head back in a glare once he realized I was right. "This isn't over, Daehler," he said before walking off. I lifted an eyebrow and followed behind him with a smirk plastered on my face.

* * *

As we were all leaving Derek's, Scott hesitated at the door. He grabbed it roughly when he realized it was painted. I stepped behind him and saw where the new red paint was covering the burnt wood. "You painted the door," he said, looking over at Derek who simply stood there silently.

I tilted my head in confusion. "And why did you pick such a bold color only on one side?"

"Go home," Derek ordered. Scott looked at me in which I shook my head stubbornly. We all know that Miguel has a history of hiding things from people. Especially vital information. Scott began clawing at the door. I took a step back as he continued clawing and clawing. Red paint chips littered the ground and a silent Derek stood in the doorway with crossed arms. Once most of the paint was gone from the area, something that resembled an angular triskelion was revealed. I titled my head further in confusion and turned to Derek. "Derek, what is that and why were you covering it up?" Derek stayed silent as expected. "Look, either you can tell me out Peter can."

"Just go home," he repeated. It's not your problem to deal with."

"The birds at school and the deer last night..." Scott trailed off. I had no idea where he was going since he was just repeating the painfully obvious. "Just like the night I got trampled by the deer when I got bit by the Alpha. How many are there?"

"A pack of 'em," he paused, looking between Scott and I. "An Alpha pack."

"All of them? How does that even work?"

"I hear there's some kind of a leader. He's called Deucalion," Derek explained. "We know they have Boyd and Erica. Peter, Isaac, and I have been looking for him for the last four months."

"Is that how Isaac ended up the way he is now?" I asked. Derek gave me a small nod in response.

"Let's say you find them," Scott spoke up. "How do you deal with an Alpha pack?"

"With all the help I can get."

God, I'd give anything for another Kanima right now.

* * *

After getting lost three times thanks to Lydia's poor directions (never mind the fact that I suck at directions), I finally found Allison's new place. I was still trying to process the news about a freaking _Alpha pack_ and hoped this could be a good distraction for the time being. And if Derek really thinks this is just his problem then he's literally asking for a death wish and it's 100% going to be granted. I rang the doorbell and waited patiently for an answer. I was surprised to see a blur of red hair when the door swung open. "You always answer other people's doors, Lydia?"

With an expected eye roll, Lydia grasped my wrist and led me inside. "You're just in time to help pick out a color for Allison's room," she announced as she drug me behind her. I took in my surroundings and noticed Allison's place was a lot simpler than their last home.

Once we reached Allison's room, I saw the various paint swatches taped to the wall. "I don't know if I would be much help. My walls are literally eggshell white," I said taking a seat on Allison's bed. There was a spread of first day homework and paint swatches. I picked up a variety of blues and began shuffling through them. I picked up one that was a soft baby blue and frowned. "This one looks to nursey-ish."

Lydia and Allison turned around to take it and place it against the wall. "She's right," Allison agreed, putting into the pile of rejects. She joined me on the bed and placed some swatches in front of us. She began cleaning off the array of homework. I noticed she missed the novel we're reading in English.

"Forgot one," I said, handing her the book. "Not really off to a good start with one, huh?" I joked, referring to my horrible pronunciation of the author's birth place.

"It's not my fault your wolfy hearing isn't up to par," Lydia added with her back turned to us.

"You know I could help you with some of the material," Allison offered. "I've read it three times already so…" she trailed off with a small laugh.

I nodded silently in agreement. "Sounds good."

"But," Allison began, standing up. "You have to help pick a color because this is driving me _crazy_."

"Deal," I grinned. I stood up to stand behind the Lydia and Allison who were holding up their two final colors. I titled my head to appear like I knew what the hell I was talking about. Like I mentioned earlier; my walls are eggshell white and I'm totally content with that. My eyes caught the blue and purplish bruises on Allison and Lydia's arms. Allison had noticed it as well and was frowning down at the pattern.

"Guys, look," she ordered.

Lydia glanced around before realizing Allison and I were staring at the arms side by side. "What? What is it?"

"It's a pattern."

* * *

**And there ya have, guys! Tell me wha tyou think in the review box, please. Oh, and also a huge hand for Ian Nelson playing a flawless teen!Derek on Monday~**


	2. Chaos Rising

After being conned by Stiles to go to a party, I found myself walking with Scott and Stiles to a stranger's house. I was wearing a simple pink cardigan paired with a grey camisole. I tugged at the end of the sleeves so they would cover my hands as I walked in between the two silently. I looked over at Scott who was uncharacteristically quiet and genuinely looked like he didn't want to be here. I'm sure my face mirrored his as I kicked a rock down the sidewalk.

"What?" Stiles asked, looking in between us.

"What, what do you mean what?" Scott asked, confusing himself in the process. I pressed my lips in a hard line and picked up the pace to avoid them talking over me and confusing the hell out of me as well. To be frank, I wasn't too thrilled about going to a party right now. Especially a different high school's party, but I decided to grin and bear it along Scott. With the full moon nearing, I was _definitely_ feeling on edge and needed a distraction. So here we all were walking into some party hosted by a girl named Heather. Plus Stiles seemed really excited it and his sad face is just…_ugh._

We all invited ourselves in with Stiles leading the way and Heather, without missing a beat, attacked Stiles' face with her mouth. I slowly watched the entire interaction while a pang of jealously shot through me. I narrowed my eyes and pursed my lips without realizing I resembled a bitter old man. I turned to Scott whose mouth was hanging open at the scene in front of us. I dropped my bitter facade and manually shut his mouth by pushing his chin up. "I'm gonna head out."

Once Scott brought himself back to earth, he blinked and frowned down at me. "But you—we just got here."

"I know," I said, rolling my eyes. "But it's a different high school with different kids..."

"Right?" Scott exclaimed. "It's weird, and Stiles is..." he trailed off. I followed his line of vision to see that Stiles and Heather left hand in hand down some stairs. My nose scrunched up on instinct and I turned back to Scott who was pointing to the door. "Do you wanna just go get a burger or something?"

"Yes," I said with excited eyes. "I'll even pay."

Scott chuckled and opened the door the same time as the doorbell rang. Allison and Lydia were on the other with surprised faces to see Scott and I. Immediately I felt the tension in the area rise as Allison and Scott kept their eyes on each other awkwardly. "Uh, hey guys," he greeted. "This isn't the talk we were gonna have, is it?"

Allison shook her head no and rolled up her sleeve. "I need to show you something."

Lydia walked over to stand by Allison and displayed her arm. The same pattern was there, but was outlined with eye liner to make it easier to see. Lydia seemed completely uninterested in the whole thing. "I still don't see it," she shrugged.

Scott examined the markings before looking back up at Allison. "I'll ask Derek about it tomorrow. Maybe he'll know something."

Allison nodded and rolled her sleeve back down. The tension began radiating again as no one spoke. Allison moved toward Scott who opened his arms, but then quickly lowered them. They moved in an awkward dance until Allison finally stood still. "Oh, uh, I was just trying to…" she trailed off, pointing to the door behind her. I stepped down and pulled Scott by the sleeve of his shirt to get him out of the way. Lydia and Allison sent us both a wave before disappearing inside the house.

The second they were gone, Scott hung his head in embarrassment. "I thought she was gonna hug me, but—"

"I know, buddy," I interrupted, patting his back. "I know."

* * *

Early the next day, Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Allison, and I were all waiting on Derek in an empty classroom. I had taken residence on a desk a few rows down from Stiles intentionally. I was sitting cross-legged and using my hands as my personal head holder. No one was talking to each other which was understandable at 7:30 in the morning.

I lightly tapped my fingers on my face in attempt to channel my full moon jitters. This was technically my first full moon without locking myself in my room all day and night. My mom was actually really upset and confused about the amount of pillows and sheets I had went through in such a short amount of time. But hey, it was better than a body, right? Right. Since I had school, I had no choice but to come out of hiding. I'm sure Scott could feel my anxiety and moodiness from anywhere in the school.

"You feeling okay?" Scott asked as he walked over and leaned against the desk beside me. I looked over at him and glanced at Stiles who was sitting on someone's desk behind him. He seemed like he wasn't paying attention to Scott and I, but truth be told he is a sneaky little bastard.

"Yeah," I nodded, straightening out my back. "Just the moon is all."

"Been there done that," he cringed. I furrowed my eyebrows slightly as I waited for him to explain. "I don't really feel it anymore."

"Right," I sighed, glancing behind Scott again. "Must be nice."

Scott turned to look behind him and returned to his leaning position on the desk. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yes."

"Charlie?"

"Hm?"

"You know I can tell when you're lying," Scott smirked.

I waved my hands in front of me mockingly. "You caught me, Scott."

"Seri—"

"What is it?" Derek demanded as he walked through the classroom door. Scott stood up straighter on to his feet and walked over to Lydia and Allison who were already rolling up their sleeves. Derek eyed the two arms as his already deep frown, deepened some more. "I don't see anything."

"Look again," Scott egged.

Derek merely glimpsed at their arms again before glaring at Scott. "How is a _bruise_ gonna tell me where Boyd and Erica are?"

"It's the same on both sides," Scott argued as if it were the most obvious thing. To be honest, it was and it was literally in Derek's face. "_Exactly_ the same."

"It's nothing," Derek stubbornly said.

"Pareidolia. Seeing patterns that aren't there," Lydia said in a matter-of-fact tone. It sounds like a made up word to me. "It's a subset of apophenia."

Yeah, she's definitely making up words now.

Scott sighed as the girls rolled their sleeves back down. Scott stepped in front of Derek. "They're trying to help."

"These two," Derek began, pointing at Lydia accusingly. "This one, who used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle, thank you," he ranted sarcastically. He moved on to point to Allison. "And this one, who shot about 30 arrows into me and my pack."

"Okay, all right, now, come on," Stiles interrupted. I found myself glaring at him the second he started speaking. "No one died, all right? Look, there may have been a little maiming, okay, a little mangling, but no death. That's what I call an important distinction."

"That's easy for you to say," I spoke up in a bitter tone. I unfolded my legs and slid off the desk. I crossed my arms and poked my hip out and looked down at Stiles. "You weren't mangled, maimed, or murdered."

Stiles put his hands up defensively and didn't say another word. I rolled my eyes as I began pacing in front of the classroom.

"My mother died," Allison pointed out.

"Your family's little honor code killed your mother. Not me," Derek argued. He sent a glare my way and placed a firm hand on my shoulder. "Stop _pacing_," he growled. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the ceiling and actually began counting the dots to keep myself busy.

"That girl was looking for Scott. I'm here to help him, not you," Allison pressed.

"You wanna help? Find something real," Derek said with finality. "And you," he began, turning to me. I held my place on the ceiling tiles and tried to focus on Derek.

"What?"

"Since there's a full moon soon, I have something for you," he said in an ambiguous tone.

My eyebrows shot up in response once I realized he wanted to restrain me until the full moon was over. "Oh, no. I'm not doing that."

"You don't have a choice," Derek said with crossed arms.

I pretended to be in deep thought for a split second before busting out into a sarcastic grin. "No, I think I do."

"I can't have you running around town killing everything you see."

"Give her a break, Der—"

"I can handle this myself, thank you," I interrupted I'm sure was a heartfelt speech from Stiles. "Derek, you're not my alpha," I denied, feeling my eyes flash gold. Automatically, Derek clenched his jaw as he took a deep breath through his nose. I, myself, took a step back and shut my eyes to calm down. I wasn't necessarily angry, but just thoroughly irritated was close enough. I blinked over at Stiles who was biting his nails nervously at the confrontation.

God, I hate it when he does that. It was disgusting and I even went as far as painting his nails when he was asleep to get him to stop. Clearly, it didn't work.

"Fine," he said after a pregnant pause. I had found myself significantly calmer after being annoyed by Stiles stupid nail biting habit. "Be an omega; we'll see how long you'll last."

And with that, Derek left out the same door he had come through. The bell for first period rang and everyone started clearing out to go to class. I was last to leave until Stiles shut the door and broadly stood in front of it. I rolled my eyes and let out a groan. "Come on, Stiles. It's the second day of school, we can't be late."

"No," he said stubbornly, attempting to cover the door more. "Not until we talk."

I frowned at his poor attempts to keep the door secure as he kept writhing against it. "You know there's another way out, right?" I informed, pointing to the other door behind the teacher's desk.

"Yes," he lied, his heart skipping a beat. "But you would've have left by now if you really didn't wanna talk."

"Fine. What do you wanna talk about?"

"Us."

"Stiles," I scoffed. "There is no _us_. You made that pretty clear with your little friend last night."

"Nothing happened," he insisted.

I heard his heartbeat stay steady and cleared my throat. "Okay. Why not?"

"Well…she sort of went missing last night before we had the chance to actually do anything," he mumbled quickly. Fortunately, the moon had me on edge and my senses were heightened more than they already were.

"That's nice to know," I scolded sardonically. "Really, it is."

"Look, Charlie," Stiles began, slackening his stance to where he was leaning on the door. "I wouldn't have gone through it anyways because I couldn't stop thinking about you."

I looked up at him through my eyelashes and bit my lip in guilt. My ears began to take on a light shade of red due to the fact he was being so honest with me right now. "It's you."

"I'm sorry, what?" Stiles asked leaning closer to me.

I rolled my eyes and scratched a nonexistent itch at the back of my head. "It's you; you're my anchor."

"Real—really?" He asked with wide eyes. He started to that fidgety thing with his mouth that I _hated_. Or maybe the full moon hated it? Gah, who knows anymore? "It's me?"

"It's more complicated than that."

"But, ultimately, it's me, right?"

"Eh," I shrugged. I knew he was going to get a swelled head, but jesus I didn't think he was going to this fast.

"Explain then, Daehler."

"You piss me off," I deadpanned. "I mean, yeah I'm pissed off a lot more than I used to be, maybe even more than Derek, but you just…_piss me off_."

Stiles gaped at me with his mouth parted slightly. "Now I'm _really_ gonna need you to explain."

"I have a few things to be angry about and originally anger was my anchor and still is. It was easy to access and even easier to suppress, but one day you just…got in my face when I was about to shift and I was good for the time being. Over the summer when I felt a shift coming, I would just imagine you and I could hardly remember what I angry about," I explained. Stiles opened his mouth to speak, but I placed a finger on his mouth. "No, I'm not done. I like you, Stiles. I do, like a lot and it scares me because when I look at you it's sometimes hard for me to decide if I wanna smash your face in or kiss you. Because I mean, _god_," I stressed, using my hands to poorly execute what I was feeling. "When I see you, I want to punch you, but that's not the only thing I want to do to your face, you know?" I sighed and felt the full moon jitters rise inside me again. I took a step back and looked down. "Look, I get if you don't want to be with me because of the insane risk involved and I prefer it that way, but just know that you're not 'Stiles, the useless human.'"

The bell rang again to signal the late bell for first period. Stiles remained silent with his mouth hanging open and his heart racing. "Uh, w—we should probably head to class," he stammered, pointing to the general direction. I waved him off before disappearing out the door located behind the teacher's desk.

_Great_.

* * *

Since Allison and I had a deal with each other, it was her turn to hold up her end. I'm pretty excited about getting some free tutoring with English. Not too excited about the actual information though. I found Allison crouched over some French homework and a laptop open and glowing. Lydia was there sipping coffee and focused on a set of twins.

"Be careful with them, Lydia," I warned cryptically. I could smell the familiar woodsy scent that Isaac, Scott, and Derek all had. Lydia blinked and titled her head.

"I want one," she decided with finality.

Allison looked up from her work followed her line of vision. "Which one?"

"The straight one, obviously," she quipped, setting down her coffee. I frowned alongside Allison and didn't bother to hide my leering at the twins who smelled _way _too familiar.

"Ready to get started?" Allison asked, clearing a space for me. I nodded while taking a seat next to her and placing by books in front of me. "So _Heart of Darkness_."

* * *

"Does that make sense?"

A made some vague hand gestures and a noise in response that I sort of understood. After an hour or so of going over the first few chapters of the book, I was thoroughly confused. To be fair I had a lot on my mind so it wasn't really a good time. But then again everything seems pretty ill-timed as of late. Allison laughed and shut her laptop and started gather her notes. "Don't worry, you'll get it once we actually read it in class, I promise."

"God, I hope so," I sighed while getting my things together. My eye caught her purplish bruise again. "Did you ever get any leads on that?" I asked in a quiet voice while pointing to get bruise.

Allison glanced around before reopening her laptop. "I did actually." She zeroed in on her screen and clicked a few times before showing me the end result. "It's a logo from a bank that closed down a while ago."

"What do you think it means?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "But the girl who put it there must have done it for a reason. And anything that happens in this town happens for a reason."

"Yeah, but Derek insists that it's nothing."

"He makes it way too hard to trust him."

"You're telling me," I scoffed. "So, what's your plan?"

"Break in."

"Your plan is to break into an abandoned bank?"

Allison gave the logo a long look before looking back at me and nodding.

"Sounds solid," I said, checking my phone which was lit up with notifications. I stood up and pocketed my phone. "Duty calls, but let me know if you need any back up," I proposed. She smiled and sent me one last wave before I left the building to head to my car.

* * *

After several texts and missed phone calls, I left the school library and hurried to Deaton's office where I was apparently needed asap. They probably though I was out about straight murdering people, but truth was that I was held up with Allison at school. Once Deaton let me behind the desk and into the back room, I took in the scene around me. Isaac was shirtless while starting reluctantly at a steel tub filled with ice and water. Stiles was in the corner wearing a single glove that came to his elbow and Scott and Derek were merely staring at me. I bit my lip and crossed my arms as a frown formed upon my face.

There were _so many things_ happening right now that I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on. "Someone just..." I trailed off, throwing my arms up. "Someone just tell me where to stand."

"Where were you?" Derek asked.

"At the library with Allison," I shot back. "God forbid I be at sc—"

"Why?" Scott and Derek interrupted in curious unison.

I lifted an eyebrow skeptically. "Shouldn't I be asking the questions?" I asked pointing to each Stiles and Isaac.

"It'd be better if you didn't," Deaton answered gently.

I sighed heavily and ran a hand through my hair. "Fine, what do I do?"

"Hold down his ankles," Derek ordered. With no other words, Isaac stepped into the tub reluctantly. The second he lowered himself, he lost all the color all over his body. Almost immediately, Derek and Scott forced him under as I had no choice but grip onto his ankles to avoid being kicked in the face. Isaac began thrashing and kicking on instinct and I felt myself let go of Isaac. I knew exactly what he was feeling and the memories of drowning came flooding back to me.

"Hold him!" Deaton yelled, although he sounded far, far away. My hands found their way back around Isaac who resurfaced, but was shoved back under. My vision began blurring from tears welling in my eyes, but I kept my grip locked on Isaac. After more thrashing and kicking, he became eerily still and miraculously paler.

I listened for a heartbeat to find a very, very faint and slow beat. I swallowed the lump in my throat to speak. "Wha—"

Deaton placed a hand on my shoulder and shushed me. "Now, remember, only I talk to him. Too many voices will confuse him and draw him out," Deaton said. There was a unanimous agreement while I was still utterly confused. I was shaking so bad from either the freezing cold water on me or the scene unfolding in front of me. "Isaac? Can you hear me?"

"Yes," Isaac answered in a cold, distant voice. "I can hear you."

"This is Dr. Deaton. I'd like to ask you a few questions. Is that all right?"

"Yes."

"I want to ask you about the night you found Erica and Boyd. I want you to remember it for me in as vivid detail as possible, like you're actually there again."

"I, I don't wanna do that," he refused, beginning to kick a little. My hands were close to feeling numb as I continued to hold his legs down. "I don't... I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna do that."

"Isaac, it's all right. Just relax," Deaton consoled. "You can't be hurt by a memory. Relax. Relax. Good. Now let's go back to that night. To the place you found Erica and Boyd. Can you tell me what you see? Is there some kind of building? A house?"

"It's not... it's not a house. It's stone. I think marble."

"That's perfect. Can you give me any other descriptors?"

"It's dusty, so empty. Like an abandoned building?"

"Isaac?" Deaton asked after Isaac became quiet. His eyes stopped moving. "Isaac?"

"I hear him," Isaac relayed suddenly. "He's talking about the full moon, about being out of control when the moon rises."

"They're worried. They're worried what they'll do during the moon. That they're gonna hurt each other," Deaton pieced together. I shook my head and closed my eyes out of confusion. I dropped down to my knees and focused on the beat of Isaac's heart which was starting to increase rapidly.

"If they're locked in together on the full moon, they're gonna tear each other apart," Derek said in a low voice.

"They're here. They—they," Isaac stuttered. His heart began racing faster than I've ever heard it before. It was like hearing a hummingbird which was obviously not normal under any circumstances.

I'm assuming Derek heard the spike in Isaac's heartbeat too because he held down in the water further. "This isn't working. Isaac, where are you?"

"I can't see them. It's too dark!" Isaac yelled. He started to kick and thrash again and at some point I let him go.

"His heart rate," Deaton began. "He could go into shock. "

"Derek!" I yelled, standing up. "Back off!"

"Derek, let him go!" Scott yelled as he too let go of Isaac.

"They—they captured me and drug me to a room. There's a dead body. It's Erica's, she—she's dead."

Everyone froze and Derek finally released his grip off of Isaac who shot up out of the water. He stood up with the help of Derek and Scott and stepped out of the water. Once he was wrapped in a blanket, I diverted my attention to the soaked ground and stuffed my frozen hands in my soaked pockets. "It's, uh... B-beacon hills first national bank. It's, um... it's an abandoned bank, and they're keeping them locked inside, inside the vault," he explained, chills interrupting his normal speech. Everyone stayed silent and Isaac took notice. "What?"

[line break]

Everyone aside from Deaton had gathered at Derek's loft after discovering the new information from Isaac. I snuck away for a second to gather my bearings with Isaac. I had taken refuge on his bed in his room upstairs. I diverted my attention to the blank walls as Isaac changed into dry, warm clothes. Once he was finished, he came over and took the empty spot next to me. I wrapped a dry blanket around his shoulders to stop the shivers that were still coming from him. He had the same vacant expression on his face since Stiles relayed him the information that he had forgotten before he came out of it. I was all caught up with the situation and was still trying to wrap my head around what happened since the events still seemed out of order. Sitting with Isaac was a good distraction for the time being since the full moon was slowly, but surely coming.

I rubbed my hand back and forth over Isaac's back in an attempt to warm and comfort him. "You okay?"

"How could I forget something like that?" He asked with the same stoic expression. A small amount of color had returned to Isaac's skin, but he was still as pale as ever.

"It's not your fault," I assured gently.

"Yeah, but how do you know that?" He scoffed. "How do _I_ know that?"

"Isaac, come one, you've been through a lot. _A lot_, okay? You're entitled to forget a few things," I argued. He turned to me and placed his head on my shoulder. "It's not your fault. You know that, I know that," I said aloud as I continued rubbing his back. I can't tell you how many times I've repeated those words to him. They applied to so many awful things that had happened to him in his life. I heard a muffled sob from my shoulder. In response, I wrapped both arms around Isaac and pulled him into a full embrace as he quietly sobbed on my shoulder.

"It's not your fault. You know that."

* * *

"Isaac's out of commission," I announced, walking down the spiral staircase. I convinced Isaac to get some sleep after our short talk. Derek, Scott, Stiles, and Peter had snapped their heads toward me. The latter was sitting away from the group that was standing around in a circle. I stood over to stand by Stiles as I tiredly rubbed my face with my hands. "He's taking Erica's death pretty hard."

"She's not dead," Derek argued.

"Derek, he said, "There's a dead body. It's Erica." Doesn't exactly leave us much room for interpretation," Stiles explained wryly.

"Then who was in the vault with Boyd?"

"Obviously, someone else," I defended, rolling my eyes at Derek. "I seriously doubt Isaac's making up something like that."

"We need a plan," Scott proposed.

"How are we gonna come up with a plan to break into a bank vault in less than 24 hours?"

"Uh, I think someone already did." Beacon hills first national closes its doors three months after vault robbery." Doesn't say here how it was robbed, but it probably won't take long to find out," Stiles proposed, reading from his phone. I tuned out of the rest of the conversation as I pulled out my own phone. I kept it on silent ever since I was at the library with Allison. Hence the several missed calls and texts from earlier. I put my phone on vibrate and began acknowledging all of the missed calls and texts to get rid of the icons mostly.

_I have a plan but I could use some back up._

I quickly texted back Allison telling her I would be over soon. I locked my phone and decided to check back into the conversation.

"You ready, Char?" Stiles asked.

My eyebrows rose as Scott and Derek looked at me expectantly. I blinked slowly before looking back at Stiles. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Were you even listening?" he sighed. I nodded dubiously and began biting the inside of my cheek. "What's the last thing I said, hm?"

"Hm," I answered confidently. Stiles let out a frustrated groan and threw his hands up and walked away from me. Scott gave me an amused grin as he watched Stiles saunter away.

"Get out," Derek ordered, moving to walk upstairs. "_All _of you."

* * *

_Stayed the night at Allison's. Don't worry; I'll be home for dinner._

I hit send on the text to my dad and tugged on my (borrowed) floral dress with another frustrated groan. Lydia peered at me through her vanity mirror on the passenger's side. I had accidently fell asleep at Allison's last night while we were putting together a plan. We ultimately decided that we would have to take what was thrown at us considering we had no idea what we were walking into. And now here I was, in the back seat of Allison's car and wearing a very pretty (annoying) dress that refused to stay down like a _normal_ article of clothing. The stupid dress pretty much set my mood for the entire day, but I also have a feeling that the full moon had something to do with that. "Simmer down, Charlie. This is better than your plain Jane look."

I glared at Lydia through the vanity mirror. "I don't wear jeans and a t-shirt because it's cute; I wear it because it's comfortable and a _lot _easier to kick someone's ass in," I ranted, giving the dress another useless tug.

"She has a point you know," Allison pointed out to Lydia.

Lydia sent me a softer look through the mirror. "All I'm saying is relax a little."

"Fine," I sighed with an eye roll. I folded my hands together and placed them on my lap. I was still for five whole seconds before I started fidgeting around all over again. To keep my hands busy, I twirled the loose strands of my hair that didn't make it into the braid in my hair.

We pulled up to the school just as was Scott and Stiles. I jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped moving and headed into the school. After my entire spiel to Stiles yesterday, I'm still feeling pretty awkward about it so today is pretty perfect for me to ignore everyone I didn't have any obligations with. I didn't even bother to stop by my locker to grab what I needed for English. Instead I headed straight to class and got a seat in the very back corner and waited for class to start.

* * *

School wasn't as bad as I had built up in my head. It was pretty elaborate distraction and I managed to keep myself under control. My eyes did slip up once because I was stuck behind a couple of slow walkers in the hall. But other than that, I was gravy.

After school, I was waiting for Allison by her car so we could go over our own plan before it was time to execute it. I know for a fact that if I told Scott or Derek; they would freak. Plus Derek has an awful habit of shoot first, ask questions later so it wasn't hard to make the decision of keeping Allison and I's plan under wraps.

"Hey," she greeted, walking up to her car. "So 6 o'clock meet at the bank?"

"Sounds good," I said, nodding in agreement. "Did you figure out a way in?"

Allison nodded silently and guided me to the back of the car. She popped the trunk open and revealed a pair of fence cutters. "There's only a chain on the door as security."

"I—so why—_really_?"

"Really," she grinned, letting down the trunk.

I lifted an eyebrow in surprise and subtly tugged at the dress again. "It's like they're _trying_ to turn an abandoned bank into a place for Bond villains."

[line break]

The second I got home I changed into something more comfortable. There was absolutely no telling what Allison and I were going to run into tonight and I was barely prepared for any of it. My fighting skills are half what Derek taught me in a month and the other half is mimicking what I've seen Isaac, Derek, Allison, Scott, and of course movies and TV shows do. But either way I had to be prepared.

After a short, silent dinner with my dad, I excused myself to my room and waited for six to come around. I lied on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. I wasn't used to how quiet it was around here ever since Matt's death. There was usually some sort of noise coming from someone's room, but now it just my dad and I in a two bedroom apartment downtown. I haven't seen much of my dad lately and there was a pull in my stomach telling that it was going to stay that way for a while. My mom refused to move back here. Something about her job requiring her to travel a lot and she wanted me to finish high school before I started living with her. Until then, I was stuck with my closed off dad. Yeah, he lost his son, but he still had a daughter.

I felt my emotions swirling around in my head. I rolled my eyes at my brain that was thinking _way_ too much and sat up. I reached for my phone and dialed the last person I wanted to talk to. Once the ringing on the other end had stopped, I listened for the breathing. "Hey, Stiles."

"Hey, Charlie," he greeted cheerfully.

I almost cringed at his cheerfulness, but instead I threw myself back on my bed to stare at the ceiling. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to convince my dad to give me the blueprints of the abandoned bank so _I can make the world a better place_," he added, shouting the last part. I cringed at the volume of his phone, but kept my phone to my ear. "But so far—nothing."

"You're telling me that the infamous Stilinski charm doesn't work on the man himself?" I teased with an eye roll.

"Hey," he scolded. "It worked on you."

I bit my lip as the blush crept on my face. "About that, Stiles. Yester—"

"Let's just talk about it when we're at Derek's, okay?"

"You really wanna have a conversation surrounded by nosy werewolves?"

"…no," he answered after an elongated pause. "But I'd rather have this conversation face-to-face."

"Fair enough," I sighed.

"Good, I'll meet you there at five o'clock?"

"Uh—I actually—Yes…Five is good," I decided, biting down on my lip even harder. Lying to someone who wasn't a werewolf was almost too easy, but I felt bad about lying to Stiles.

"Oh, and Char?"

"Yeah?"

"You looked really pretty at school today," he complimented in a soft voice.

I blushed even deeper before saying anything. "Thanks, so did you." My eyes bugged out of my head as soon as I realized what I said. "See you at Derek's," I said quickly before hanging up the phone in his without letting him reply. Tossing my phone blindly on the floor, I placed a pillow over my face and let out a spine-chilling growl into the pillow.

Good one, Daehler. Good one.

* * *

As six rolled around, I decided to run to the bank instead of taking my car. It helped with full moon creeping up on me and the frustration of my awkward phone call with Stiles. My hair was pulled back into a ponytail as it bounced behind me. I took a shortcut through the woods and hoped to god I wouldn't get lost. Fortunately, my heightened senses helped me find my way to the bank where Allison was patiently waiting in her car. I sprinted my way over and accidently scared her when I popped up beside her car window. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's just me," I assured, waving my hands in front of me defensively. Allison had her crossbow loaded and pointed at me ready to fire. She sighed as her heart was still fluttering. She got out of her car in a fluid movement and handed me the fence cutters.

"Sorry, about that," she said meekly.

I shook my head and waved her off. "It's fine. As long as you don't go stabbing everybody again; I'm good."

Allison laughed once uncomfortably before looking up at the sky. I looked up to and took note that the moon hadn't made an appearance yet. "Ready?" She asked, wielding her crossbow.

"Ready," I declared. With that, we headed to the poorly secured doors. I easily cut the chains and started to unwrap them from the entrance while Allison kept a sharp lookout. We slid our way inside and I immediately began listening for other heartbeats. I placed one particular beat that was getting closer and closer until something ran between Allison and me.

There was a flash of black hair and Allison was pinned to the wall with her mouth shut. "Ms. Morrell?" I asked, squinting my eyes in the darkness. She snapped her head at me before uncovering Allison's mouth.

"Keep your mouths shut and listen close. You have _no_ idea what you just stepped into. Right now you've got maybe 20 seconds to get your asses hidden," she explained in a rushed manner.

"What are you doing?" Allison panted.

"Get in that storage closet over there. Lock the door. When you hear the fighting start, that's when you come out," Ms. Morrell ordered. She stepped away from Allison who quickly walked over to me.

"What fighting?'

"You'll hear it," she insisted, with a push to Allison. "Now go!"

I blinked slowly in confusion as Ms. Morrell ran away from the mysterious direction she came. Considering how cryptic her advice to Allison and I just was, she should quit her day job as a guidance counselor.

Allison literally pulled me out of my thoughts and into the storage closet. She shut the door with a soft click behind us. I took in a deep breath and started gagging at the smell in the closet. I placed a hand firmly over my mouth to quiet my coughing. Allison turned the flashlight on her phone and began looking around the room. My nose was burning at the rotting stench while my stomach was turning. I stood as close to the door as I possibly could to get away from the smell. Allison let out a loud gasp from the corner of the room. "Charlie, look," she whispered. I turned around and followed her line of vision to see a decaying Erica sitting very, very, _very _still in the corner.

I too let out a gasp and almost threw up the Chinese I had for dinner. I dug around in my pockets to text someone, anyone, that Erica was definitely dead. Footsteps in the near, near distance stopped me. Allison looked at me in fear once I realized that she heard them too. She kicked over a bottle of something that made my nose burn even more. I bunched up my shirt to cover my nose and glared at Allison. She put a finger to her lips.

I heard about two or three footsteps past right by us. I placed my hand on the door and prepared for a fight until whoever was on the other side of the door kept walking. Once the footsteps were gone, I looked over at Allison who was shining the flashlight over at me. "That was amazing," I praised with a whisper.

"Thanks," she whispered back. She handed me her phone and took of her jacket and placed it on the ground to soak up the rest of whatever saved our ass. My guess was ammonia considering how bad it was irritating my nose. I heard a crash followed by low growling and voices.

"Did you hear that?" I whispered, uncovering my nose and mouth. Allison frowned and shook her head. I heard more growling that I didn't recognize and pressed my ear to the door.

"Charlie?" Allison asked aloud. I threw up my hand to quiet her and shut my eyes to focus on the sounds I heard in the distance.

"Derek, we got a problem, a really big problem."

"It's Scott," I gasped. "Scott and Derek. Something's happening," I explained hurriedly. "Stay here," I said, before running off. I easily followed the scent to the vault where Derek and Scott were standing around. The same unfamiliar growling I had heard before began again.

"Charlie? What are you doing here? Get out!" Scott barked, with his phone still pressed to his ear. I didn't have time to be confused once Boyd and an unfamiliar girl came of the shadows slowly.

"C—Charlie?" Stiles asked from over the phone. "Charlie's there?"

"Cora?" Derek asked in a quiet voice.

"Who?" Scott and I asked at the same time.

"Cora?" He asked again, taking a step toward her.

"Scott?"

I rolled my eyes in frustration at the name game all of us were playing at the time. I saw something move out of the corner of my eye and saw Ms. Morrell closing a gap out what looked like mountain ash. I pieced together all the information I knew and realized that I stepped into an arena along Scott and Derek.

In perfect timing, the moon shone through the windows and the hole in the vault. Boyd and Cora each zeroed in on Scott and Derek while I easily shifted into my wolf form. I took advantage and stepped out of dodge and waited for a distraction. Derek took on his supposed sister who instantaneously began clawing at him. She got in hit after hit until she finally threw Derek into the wall. I came up behind Cora and swept my leg under her ankles to get her off her feet. It worked for about .5 seconds until she was back on her feet and facing me.

"Crap," I growled. Without wasting anytime she slashed at my stomach that caused me to falter at the impact. Luckily, I saw her other hand come swinging toward my face. I ducked as she lunged toward me. Unfortunately, Derek was right behind me and took the blow instead. I sucked in air through my teeth and cringed. I backed up slowly only to be stopped by Boyd. I jumped and turned around to see Scott hanging high in the hair by Boyd's claw. I backed up again to get a running start and tackled him into the ground where we hit a wall. My infamous run-and-tackle had a pretty good track record up until now. Boyd jumped up before I did and performed an encore by entering his hand into my abdomen. I gasped at the impact and immediately tasted blood as a result.

"Look out!" Allison warned.

"No, don't break the seal!" Derek yelled. Suddenly I was relieved of pain as the healing process began. I sank all the way to the ground and looked over at Allison while I shifted back into my human form. She had broken the seal of mountain ash so Boyd and Cora could take off. Scott was holding himself up against the vault door as Derek stormed over to Allison.

"Don't touch her!" He yelled. I shakily stood up as my wounds from the outside scarred over. I used the giant hole as an impromptu seat and waited for the inevitable internal bleeding to stop. "What were you two thinking?" Derek growled, moving his head between Allison and me. I shook my head dismissively and wiped blood on the sleeve of my shirt. Hopefully that was enough for Derek to get the hint that I didn't want to talk until any all internal bleeding had stopped. Plus, I wasn't in the mood to get yelled at now.

"That I had to do something," Allison defended.

"She saved our lives," Scott pointed out.

"Yeah, and what do you think they're gonna do out there? Do you have any idea what we just set free?" Derek asked sardonically. I could feel his rage radiating from him as he crossed his arms.

"You want to blame me?" Allison scoffed. "Well, I am not the one turning teenagers into killers."

"No. No, that's just the rest of your family," Derek shot back.

Whoa, it's getting pretty crafty in here.

I cleared my throat and stood up on my wobbly legs to leave. "Well, this have been _so much fun_ but—"

"No," Derek interrupted. "If you go home they're gonna follow your scent and kill your dad and then you."

I pursed my lips and sat back down silently.

"Look, I made mistakes. Gerard is not my fault," Allison continued, looking at Derek.

"And what about your mother?" He asked with an unconvinced look on his face.

Allison frowned as she looked in between Derek and Scott. "What do you mean?"

"Tell her, Scott," Derek ordered. Scott stayed silent with a hesitant look on his face.

"What does he mean, Scott?" Allison repeated. I stood up again, feeling stronger this time, and slowly walked out of the vault to give Allison and Scott some privacy. I heard footsteps follow me and only assumed it was Derek by the sound of his raging heart beating. I stopped short in front of the storage closet and stood there silently.

"So that was your sister, huh?" I asked, still staring at the storage door.

"Yeah," he answered from a few feet behind me. I turned all the way around to face Derek who was staring at the ground with his hands shoved in his pockets. His ripped shirt resembled mine and I rolled my eyes at the amount of clothes I've been through ever since the bite.

"We'll find her and Boyd, but right now we have to deal with this."

"What are you talking about?" I shot my head toward the storage closet and waited for Derek to get the hint. Soon after, he walked over and slowly opened the storage door. He disappeared inside for a few moments. I could his heartbeat pick up and then shuffling. Scott and Allison had appeared behind me when Derek, nearly in tears, emerged with a lifeless Erica.

* * *

**Review?**


	3. Fireflies

Nearing midnight, Derek and I were trekking the woods to look for Cora and Boyd. It was Derek's plan to split up much to my demise. Splitting up never really worked for anybody. But steady yet here I was in the woods with a brooding alpha, a torn and drafty shirt, and a never ending silence. I'm sure Derek was counting on me not talking since he wasn't my alpha and I definitely wasn't in his pack, but ever since he got Erica's body, something had changed. I could feel it in the air. We were about 20 yards away from the actual entrance from the preserve when my ears got tired of hearing nothing by the sounds of our steps. "Sorry about Erica."

"Not your fault," Derek answered shortly.

"Not yours either," I shot back, looking over at Derek who kept his line of vision straight ahead. He didn't say anything after that. I know he's a man of few words but my god I would have split up with Scott if he would have let me go with him instead of Derek. But I guess it's Scott very subtle way of saying that he trusts Derek with my life. To be fair, Derek did literally pump the life back in me. Then there was the whole brother/murderer scheme that led to my werewolfdom. So I definitely owed Derek one or two whether I want to admit it or not. "I'll join your pack."

"I don't need your sympathy," he said without missing a beat.

"I know," I said with an eye roll. "But you need my help so I'm offering," I proposed, looking up at the moon and feeling the pull from it. "Plus I still need some help with this whole thing. I get most of my information from movies and it's a _lot _harder than it looks."

"That's because this is real life."

"Yeah, well. I didn't think werewolves existed in real life either." We walked side by side in silence for a few minutes until Derek suddenly stopped. I stopped a few steps ahead of him and turned around to frown at him. "What? Did you catch a scent?"

"If you wanna join my pack, then you have to trust me."

I nodded and looked away from him. "I do."

"You're lying," he dead-panned with a stoic expression.

I frowned at my telltale signs and shrugged. "Small doses, Derek. I trust you in small doses."

"I saved your life twice," he said with a scowl. Although it came it more like a question.

"Yes, and I owe you for that; you said it yourself."

"Fine," he agreed after a pregnant pause. I nodded once as Derek started walking again and I fell into step beside him. "We need to set some ground rules."

"Agreed," I said a little too quickly. "First things first, _communication_, Derek. For the love of _god_ communication. If something's going on; Isaac and I need to know, okay? Second, no chains, restraints, or anything weird like that on full moons. I got this," I assured, referring to myself. "You have to do something about your uncle otherwise you're gonna come home one day to a single bloody v-neck and I will wave that thing around with pride. And if he resurrects himself, then I'll do it again and again and again," I exaggerated. Most of that was an empty threat. Most of it. "You gotta stop being so abrasive all the time—What?" I asked when Derek scoffed at my last rule.

"_You're_ telling _me _to be less abrasive," he stated. I rolled my eyes and tried to think back to a time where I was as abrasive as Derek. I frowned once I realized it was when I was mouthing off my empty threats about Peter. I crossed my arms and sighed heavily. "Done?" He asked with a slight tug at the corner of his mouth. I nodded stubbornly and deliberately looked to my right where Derek wasn't walking. "Good. One, you've have to stop being so stubborn and listen to me. Two, you have to trust me; that's not an option. Three, you have to find an anchor that isn't anger," he finished shortly.

"Why? It works like a charm." Whatever Derek was about to say was cut off by his phone vibrating. I heard Scott's voice on the other end and slightly leaned in as Derek and I stopped. "I found them," Scott began in a guilty voice.

"You found them?" Derek asked, his eyes widening.

"But I lost them," he finished anticlimactically.

"You lost them?" I rolled my eyes at Derek's rhetorical questions and continued listening.

"Yeah, I kind of had to."

"Wasn't exactly the plan."

"I know which is why I think that we should stick together," Scott reiterated. I sent Derek an 'I told you so' look in which he rolled his eyes at. "Trust me; he's too strong, too fast, and way too angry for one person to handle. We've got to do this together. All of us."

"It's true, he almost tore Scott and me apart in the vault," I added. Derek glanced down at me before looking around and taking in his surroundings. "Look, we're over at the trails by the entrance to the preserve. Can you meet us here?"

"Yeah, just got to drop something off first," Scott replied before hanging up. Derek hung up and did something else on his phone be he slipped it back into his pocket and stood with a stoic expression.

"Scott doesn't trust you?" I asked, leaning on a nearby tree. Derek shook his head silently. "You know it would help if didn't utilize the whole 'shoot first, ask questions later' shindig," I said knowingly.

Derek furrowed his eyebrows and glanced away for a brief moment. "I've never shot anybody."

"Oh, Derek," I sighed with a slight patronizing undertone in my voice. Derek stood stoically and silently as I tugged at the ends of ripped shirt. Seriously I should open up a store specifically for werewolves who have a hard time keeping shirts not ripped or tattered. I'd make a fortune. I don't even remember getting the long tear on my right long sleeve. Luckily my cardigan was only stained with blood. Now there's no point of me dressing for the season if it meant my clothes were going to be ripped for the opposite season. I rolled my eyes and pulled my sleeves up to my elbows.

The sound of my phone vibrating interrupted my intricate sleeve pulling. I checked the name on my phone to see Stiles calling and merely slid the phone back in my pocket without missing a beat. As soon as the vibrating stopped, it started again. I let out a long sigh and shut my eyes as I leaned against a tree.

"Weren't you the one saying I need to communicate?"

I opened one eye to glare at Derek. "You know you talk a lot more than people give you credit for."

"It's Stiles, isn't it?"

I shut my eyes again with a frown on my brow and huffed as my phone vibrated _again_. Derek let out a short laugh. "Don't act like you've never avoided people, sour wolf," I muttered, my eyes still shut. "I'll deal with Stiles later."

"He's your anchor," Derek said, purposely ignoring his new nickname. "I wouldn't put it off too long."

I shot my eyes open and lifted my head to look at Derek. "Wh—how do you—put what off?"

"Whatever annoying teenager angst you guys are dealing with," he shrugged.

"How'd you know he's my anchor?"

"You're not a very good liar."

"That's not true, its way easier to access anger than it is to swoon over someone whose only defense is sarcasm."

"Exactly. Which is why you need to deal with _that_," Derek said pointing to my phone. "Anger doesn't have to be everybody's anchor."

I leaned my head back again and thought about Derek's words. Granted he had a really good point, but I wasn't so sure about relying entirely on one person to keep myself from killing and maiming. I'll deal with all my anchor business some other time because now we actually have two murderous werewolves roaming the city.

A branch snapped in the distance and I jumped up at the sound from behind me. I stood up straight and backed into Derek who was also on high alert. I took in a deep breath and instantly relaxed my shoulders while my heart continued pounding. "Seriously, Scott?"

"Sorry," he grinned sheepishly.

Derek rolled his eyes and turned his back toward Scott and I. "Come on," he ordered, taking off into the preserve. Scott and I exchanged looks before breaking out into a sprint of our own. We put about 5 yards of space in between us as we ran through the preserve. The gap slowly started to close once we caught a scent. Following the scent of Boyd and Cora, Scott flipped twice before landing on his feet to stop. Derek did the same, only not as dramatic (which was a first). I sloppily tried to skid to a stop and kicked up dirt in the process. Derek had to throw up his arm just to get me from running over a foot print in the dirt.

"Is it them?" Scott asked, examining the print.

Derek nodded and scanned the area around us. "There not the only ones who decided to stick together."

"Is that gonna make it easier or harder to catch them?"

"I don't know."

"Derek," Scott began. "I saw Boyd try to rip two little kids apart. Are they gonna do that to everyone they find?"

Without missing a beat, Derek nodded. "Everyone and anyone."

"Well, that's comforting," I sighed with an eye roll.

Scott's phone began ringing and Stiles wasted no time and began talking before Scott could say anything himself. "Scott, Lydia found a dead body at the public pool. It looks like Boyd and Cora did it. And oh my god there is blood _everywhere_."

Scott look frustrated and sighed heavily. "Are you sure?"

"Yep. Throat ripped out, blood everywhere. It's like the frickin' _Shining_ over here. If two little twin girls come out of the woods, start asking me to play with them forever and ever, I'm not gonna be surprised."

"Can you get a little closer to make sure it was them?" Scott asked.

I stepped forward and placed a hand on Scott's arm. "I'll go check it out just to be sure."

Scott looked down at me with a reluctant look on his face before shutting his eyes and sighing again. "Charlie's on her way over there."

"I—oh, good. Tell her it's nice to know she's _not_ dead," Stiles quipped before hanging up. I rolled my eyes and turned back to group alongside Scott.

"This doesn't make any sense. The public pool is all the way on the other side of the woods. We haven't tracked them anywhere near there," Derek argued.

"Derek," Scott sighed. "They killed someone."

I held up my hand and looked over at Scott who seemed unconvinced. True enough we don't have all the facts, but I'd give anything right now to not run around this damn preserve again. "We don't know that."

"Go," Derek ordered. "We'll call you if anything happens."

I nodded once before disappearing in the preserve once again.

* * *

"Oh, god," I mumbled, taking in the scene in front of me. There was a dead body still leaking blood from the single laceration on his throat. The police had yet to arrive, but Stiles and Lydia were nowhere to be found.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad," Stiles agreed, coming around the corner. I jumped at the sound of his voice and looked behind him for Lydia. "You didn't hear me?"

"I heard you, I just wasn't paying attention," I said, pointing to the gruesome scene behind me.

Stiles cringed and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that'll do it."

I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes to focus on a scent that wasn't blood or chlorine. I opened them and walked over to the edge of the pool where the water was eerily still. I stared at my reflection silently and shook away any thoughts that were distracting me. "They weren't here."

"Wha—Char, look at this guy and tell me a werewolf didn't do this," Stiles argued. He placed both his hands on my shoulders and turned me around to face the victim.

I shook my head again and tried to catch a scent. There was one I didn't recognize, but I knew it wasn't Boyd's or Cora's. To be honest it just smelled like straight up death which was incredibly unsettling. "Where's Lydia?"

Stiles huffed and pointed over to her car. "She's pretty freaked out."

"I would be too if I just drove to the site of a dead body without realizing what I was doing." Blue and red lights suddenly filled the darkness while ambulances and patrol cars invaded the area. My phone began vibrating for the umpteenth time that night and I dug it out of my pocket to check it. It was a message from Scott telling me that he was on his way with back up. I didn't bother trying to decode the back up and merely stuffed my phone back into my pocket. "I should probably get out of here."

"Wait," Stiles yelled, grabbing the top of my arm. We shared a brief moment of silence before Stiles opened his mouth to say something.

"Stiles, dead body," I reiterated, pointing to the obvious site. Whether he wanted to talk, fight, or whatever it was he wanted do, it wasn't the time and _definitely_ not the place.

"Uh, right," he agreed. "Promise me, we'll talk later."

I nodded quickly and glanced behind him to see Derek and Isaac parked in the shadows. "Promise," I repeated, looking back at Stiles. I sent him a small wave before disappearing behind the line of patrol cars and the ambulance. I managed to get through without getting caught at the scene of the crime and headed to Derek's SUV. I caught a glimpse of Mr. Argent and Scott and sighed. Really it was best to stop asking questions. This night was going to be long and it had only just begun.

"Wasn't them," I announced, hopping in the backseat of Derek's SUV. Frankly, I like his new car. It's way better on gas mileage than his Camaro. Although it does give him a more of a soccer mom look.

* * *

After another ominous meeting in the woods, I was given the incredibly exciting task of waiting at the school. I was supposed to be listening for the high frequency emitters that are supposed to lead Boyd and Cora directly to me so they could be trapped. I easily scaled the side of the building using a combination of the gutters, pipes, and the wall itself until I was on the roof of the school. I was half tempted to howl at the moon for shits and giggles, but decided against it in case anyone was watching. The only part of this plan that I appreciated was the alone time I was given. I decided to try to get back into my Angry Birds stage and beat my personal best. Unfortunately my concentration was broken when the unforgettable sounds of the emitter was heard.

It let out a sound that was irritatingly familiar as Stiles' old dog whistle. I cringed at the sound, but kept my ears uncovered regardless. The plan was to meet outside the school, but plans change. Especially considering it was a full moon and everyone was focused on not shifting while trying to contain two uncontrollable werewolves.

It's just our luck.

The irritating noise from the emitters grew louder. It was almost unbearable until Isaac had grunted from behind me. I whipped around to face the noise as he hoisted himself over the wall and onto the roof. "Thanks for helping me," he thanked sardonically as he made his way over to me.

"Thanks for the headache," I snapped back. He didn't bother to counter an argument and looked out at the view. "I should probably head to the entrance of the school. Derek and Scott are probably around here somewhere." Isaac nodded in agreement and left the same way he came. I followed him out of curiosity and almost laughed aloud at my poor attention to detail. Lo and behold there was a ladder that led perfectly from the roof to the ground. Isaac waited patiently as I took the easy way down.

We sat on the steps of the entrance of the school and playfully bumped each other's knees in silence. "This feels weird," Isaac spoke up. I shot him a look telling him to continue. "Feels like were waiting in a coliseum for the lion to come out and attack us."

I paused my knee bumping and slowly turned my head to Isaac. "That's a _terrible_ analogy."

"Feels right," he shrugged.

"That's the worst part, jackass."

"Fine, fine. It feels like we're about to get married."

"_Isaac._"

"What?"

"Are you always like this on a full moon?" I asked while trying to bite back a smile.

"Would you rather I be more werewolfy?"

"Not a real word."

He shrugged and leaned back on his shoulders on the step behind him. "Made you laugh either way."

I blew out a huff of air threw my nose and shook my head. "How do you think this whole alpha pack thing is gonna play out?" I asked after a few moments of silence.

Isaac didn't have time to answer when we heard growling in the near, near distance. We both rose to our feet and kept our gazes locked on the direction where the growling was coming from. "I know you hate it, but we should split up."

There wasn't time for me to be annoyed by Isaac's plan. I pushed him toward the general direction of the buses. "Go."

He took off in a sprint to the back of the school without another word. I moved to prop open the doors to the school. I listened for anymore sounds as I stood in the doorway. I scanned the dark area in front of me until I saw a pair of yellow glowing eyes. "Oh, here we go," I mumbled under my breath. I took a deep breath as I let the feeling of the full moon wash over. The shift was painless as it was instantaneous. The pair of eyes came running toward me and it only took a second for me to realize that I was Cora.

I cracked my knuckles and began backing up into the school. Once she was too close for my comfort, I juked to the right in a sprint knowing she would follow me. With the freshly waxed floors, it was difficult to turn corners without knocking myself out, but I managed to do without the help of friction from my shoes.

After a mere 30 seconds of being deliberately chased, I realized I had no idea where the boiler room was in the school. I mean _yeah,_ it's under the school, but where the hell are the stairs. Panic rose in my chest as Cora managed to get close enough to swipe at my cardigan. I cursed under my breath and sloppily turned a corner, and then turned another one blindly.

"Charlie!"

I almost stopped at my name being called throughout the school, but I knew I had to keep moving. Pinpointing the voice was difficult considering the school was empty. "Charlie!" The voice yelled again, clearer this time.

"_Charlie_!" My ears twitched once I realized it was Derek and immediately changed course to find him. I caught his scent along with the feeling of panic that he left. With Cora still hot on my heels, I saw Derek and Scott at the bottom of a staircase that I assumed led to the boiler room. I paused for half a second to see Cora a yard from me. Luckily the distance was enough so she would run into the boiler room and not into me. I cursed again and took the stairs two at a time and slammed into the wall once the door shut beside me.

"Are you okay?" With my hands on my knees, I let my head dangle while I focused on my breathing to shift back into my human form. I know my huffing and puffing wasn't a very good answer, so I shot him a thumbs up instead.

"Did that actually work?" Scott panted. I continued taking deep breaths and slid down the door across from Derek who looked exhausted. Scott became eerily quiet as he stood in the same spot with his ear pressed against the door. I held my breath to quiet my own breathing to listen inside the boiler room. I heard the fluttering heart beats of Boyd and Cora, but there was a third beat. Slower and much more human.

"There's someone in there," I exclaimed, shuffling to my feet. It only took Derek a second to confirm that as he too got up to his feet. He pushed Scott aside and leaned against the door. It seemed like forever before he moved again.

"I know," he confirmed before whipping the door open and disappearing inside. Scott shut and locked the door behind him as soon as Derek's foot crossed the threshold. On my own instinct, I moved to follow him but Scott gripped the tops of my arms as a restraint.

"No, you can't go in there," he growled, pressing his back to the door while keeping me in place. He wrapped his arms all the way around me painfully as I struggled against Scott in a frustrated manner. My eyes flashed gold when his grip only got tighter as I continued pulling against his grip. I felt the overwhelming need to go in and help Derek despite the fact I that I could easily come out dead considering my track record. The sounds coming from the boiler room were putting me more and more on edge. There was growling, snarling, and a whole lot of scratching.

"Scott," Isaac yelled from upstairs. I ignored the yelling and finally pulled one arm from Scott's grasp. I immediately ducked and reached for the door handle until Isaac yelled again. "Guys, the sun is coming up!"

Suddenly, I stopped while it became silent. We stared at each other as we listened for four heartbeats, but only heard two. This time it was Scott who charged at the door and sprinted inside. I followed him inside and skidded to a less than graceful stop once I found them all around the corner. Derek sat there bloody, scratched, bruised and slumped over while perched on his knees. Boyd and Cora were both incapacitated. The other heartbeat was coming from a corner in the room. Scott and I both turned to see a terrified Ms. Blake hiding behind a shelf. Isaac had joined us shortly. Derek slowly lifted his head and acknowledged our existence by simply panting and staring. "Get them out of here," he ordered. "I'll take care of the teacher."

* * *

Once the sun broke completely, Scott and I headed to the morgue at the hospital to meet Stiles. We'd been up all day and all night so we figured why not push it anyways. Besides, if Stiles is calling people to the morgue, then something's definitely up. I didn't even want to think about what I looked like. Then again, I couldn't look any worse than Scott or Derek.

"So you joined Derek's pack?" Scott asked, breaking our comfortable silence.

I nodded in response and slid my hands into my pockets. My phone had died a couple of hours ago and was worth a paperweight right about now. "Just felt right. I don't think I would have made a very good Omega anyways."

"I thought the same thing too," he agreed. His eyes widened once he realized what he said. "No, uh—I meant me. I thought—"

"I get it," I chuckled with an eye roll. "I'd think the same thing if someone made me watch that Omega get cut in half."

"Yeah, that'll do it," he cringed at the memory. We eventually made it to the hospital on foot and snuck into the morgue with ease. It was almost _too_ easy to sneak in.

We easily found Stiles considering he was the only live heartbeat downstairs. He was pacing and didn't even bother to stop when he spotted us. I quietly shut the door and went to stand over by the bodies that were laid out on the table. "So what's the verdict?"

"Sacrifices," Stiles said simply, putting a stop to his pacing. Scott and I shared a silent look.

"Start over," I stressed. Stiles sighed shortly and slapped on a pair of rubber gloves. He pulled down the sheets from the bodies and pointed.

"That guy Lydia found at the pool. All three were virgins. Emily, Heather—"

"Wait," I interrupted. I squinted my eyes to get a better look at the blonde who was indeed Heather. "That's Heather?"

"Yeah, I told you she was missing," Stiles said with a frown.

"Yeah, but I thought she was just missing _missing_, not APB missing."

Scott cleared his throat from beside me. "What's uh, what's the difference?" Stiles and I both turned to Scott before pointedly looking at Heather. Scott's face turned into a slow façade of realization. "Sorry, continue."

"They all have the same injuries; strangled, throat slashed, and their head bashed in. It's called the threefold death," he continued.

"And we know it's not Boyd and Cora…" Scott began.

"And we know these aren't random killings," I nodded.

"Hence, human sacrifices," Stiles finished.

I ran a hand the best I could through my hair while Scott let out a long, tired sigh. "What do we do now?" I asked, looking between Scott and Stiles. Stiles shook his head while removing his gloves and tossing them in the trash.

"Well we can't just stand around and wait for someone else to die," Scott vowed.

"I don't think we have a say in that, Scott. I mean we just learned that someone is _sacrificing_ people," I reiterated, rubbing my eyes. "And considering we've been up since yesterday morning, any plan we come up with now would probably get us killed."

"She's right," Stiles agreed, scratching the back of his head. With that unanimous agreement, we all left the morgue and made our way to the parking lot where Stiles' Jeep was sitting.

"Where's your bike?" I asked Scott.

"I...think it's at home?"

I let out a short laugh and gave him an understanding look.

"So irresponsible," Stiles scoffed, crossing his arms. Scott and I sent Stiles our convincing looks. Stiles seemed unconvinced until I nudged Scott who I'm sure put on those ridiculous puppy dog eyes. "You know what? I'm gonna start charging you two a fare," Stiles declared. He opened the passenger door and silently stomped over to his side of his car and got in. Scott and I high fived before he climbed in the back.

Once Scott was dropped off at his bike, I decided that I would try to take a nap on the way home. Unfortunately Stiles decided that was a good time to play with the radio. After landing on the tenth static station, I slapped his hand away from the radio. He mumbled a feeble sorry from under his breath. I tried to settle in a comfortable spot again while shutting my eyes. It only took a few seconds for the sleep to take over until Stiles started mindlessly tapping his fingers on the dashboard.

"What is it?" I asked in a tired voice. The taping stopped immediately and Stiles' heart beat picked up. "What's bothering you?" I asked again, opening my eyes to glare up at him through my eyelashes.

"I—uh—we're here," he stammered. I sat up in my seat to look out the window to see my apartment building. "I'll follow you in just so I know you're safe."

"Stiles, it's just—"

"For my sanity, please?"

"Okay," I nodded. He sent me a small smile in response and got out. I moved to follow him, but was stopped by the blinding sun. "Ugh, god what time is it?"

"A quarter after 6," Stiles yawned. I rubbed one eye in a tired manner. We silently made our way to the elevator and finally to my humble abode (in a sense). I unlocked and opened the door while Stiles shut it behind me. My intention was to head straight to bed, but was stopped by the mess that was littering the kitchen. I wafted the scent of old, stale booze away from my nose and started gathering the empty beer bottles off the counter. Stiles followed my lead and dug around for a trash bag under the sink.

Holding an empty bottle of Jack Daniels, I tried to pinpoint exactly when my dad's drinking started back up. And when in the hell did it get this bad? With everything that's going on, it's too hard to tell.

Was it the divorce from 10 years ago?

Was it from the army?

Was it from Matt's death?

Was it..._me_?

"Charlie," Stiles said slowly, walking toward me with his hands up. He eyed what was once the empty Jack Daniels bottle in my hand. It was now nothing but bloody shards. Stiles gently took my hand and picked out the pieces of glass with shaky hands. The lacerations were healing at a quick pace so I steadied Stiles hands with my free one. Without a word, I led him to the bathroom. I handed him a dry washcloth from the linen closet and sat on the edge of the tub. Stiles joined me after he dampened the cloth with warm water. "I know you're a werewolf and everything, but that's not an excuse to squeeze glass bottles until they explode," he lectured while wiping the excess blood away.

"I'm surprised you're not green with disgust right now," I teased lightly. Stiles shrugged one shoulder before giving me my hand back.

"Good as new," he nodded, tossing the now dirty towel in the hamper. I flexed my hand and admired his hard work. "So, uh, what's the deal with all the booze anyways? Your dad have a party or something last night?"

"No, I would have caught a scent," I mumbled in a shaky voice. "Or _something_." I sighed and buried my face in my hand for a brief moment. "He's drinking again." Stiles was silent and still for a moment before he pulled me in for an embrace. I returned the gesture and wrapped my arms around the boy's waist. "It's my fault," I whispered into his shoulder.

"What are you tal— "

"It was right in front of my face the whole time and I didn't even notice, Stiles. It was Matt all along and we could have saved him. I could have saved him when he was nine and _none_ of this would have ever happened and now my dad is drinking himself into a _coma_ because he doesn't know any other coping mechanism and it's _my_ fault they got divorced. It's my fault he left the army; I wanted him here for my own selfish reasons. It's my fault Matt's dead. And now Erica's dead? I mean it's like a really shitty domino effect is happening and it's getting worse, I can feel it. Something really, _really _bad is gonna happen next and I'm like 90 percent sure it'll be my fau—"

"Shut up," Stiles deadpanned.

I gaped at him silently to find the words, but could only muster one word. "What?"

"Shut. _Up_."

I shot up from my seat as my eyes flashed gold. "Are you _serious_ right now Stiles Stilinski?"

Stiles clumsily shot up from his seat as well and use the few inches he had on me as an advantage. "As a heart attack." I laughed sarcastically once and pointed my finger to him chest firmly. He cut me off before I used the opportunity to speak. "None of this is—and never will be your fault, okay? Blaming yourself won't make it go away, you know that. We all went through hell last year and we all got through it one way or another and we can get through this. Together, okay?"

I swallowed thickly and shyly looked away from Stiles. Playing the blame game was easy, especially if Peter Hale was around, but with everything that happened last year it I still find hard to believe how this wasn't ultimately my fault. Only slightly convinced, I looked back up at Stiles. "Okay."

He wrapped his arms around my neck and shoulders and pulled me into another warm hug. I returned it silently and let myself relax in Stiles' arms. We stood there for a couple of minutes before pulling away. I was proud to see that I didn't shed one tear. Letting out another yawn, I realized that was _definitely_ a school day.

Crap.

There was no way that I was in a state to go to school today, but I was for the sake of my sanity. Being left alone with my thoughts was usually a virtue, but not today. "We have school today," I informed with a frown.

Stiles checked the time on his phone and showed me the time. "We have a couple of hours to sleep."

"Right," I yawned and blindly started to head out of the bathroom. "C'mon, I'll walk you to the door."

"Actually," he interrupted. He flushed lightly and rubbed the back of his head. "Is it cool if crash here? I don't really trust myself to drive right now, and I could just sleep on the couch or floor or whatever works for you. You know they say driving sleep deprived is as bad as driving while you're drunk? So to be on the safe side of things I think I should maybe stay here. But you know only for a couple of ho—"

"Yes, for of the love of god just stop talking," I agreed, walking out of the bathroom and to my room. I heard Stiles let out a nervous laugh from behind me. "You can sleep in my bed. I imagine after staying up all night the last you wanna sleep is on someone's floor," I said, kicking off my shoes. I took off my cardigan and then my shredded shirt, revealing the black tank top underneath. I climbed into bed, jeans and all, and got comfortable the best I could. Stiles followed my lead and set an alarm on his phone for a couple of hours from now. Personally I didn't care if we were late or early, I just wanted to sleep. After he finished setting up the alarm, we both laid on our backs in an awkward silence while we stared at the ceiling. I lifted Stiles' arms and cuddled underneath so I was positioned right under his neck while my arm was draped over his stomach and the other was tucked under my head. He curved his body into several positions which was basically torture until he _finally _got comfortable.

"Night, Char," he whispered, placing a kiss on my head.

I fluttered my eyes shut and yawned one last time. "Night."

* * *

The unforgiving sunlight from the early morning shone through my blinds and easily woke me. I cracked open both my eyes to glare the best I could at the light and flipped over to avoid the sun. God the sun was a worst alarm than the actual alarm clock. I was hardly fazed when I saw Stiles still fast asleep. He was snoring lightly with his mouth open and his eyes twitching from under the lids. His pulled me toward him while moving himself closer to me. I laughed softly and placed my hand on his cheek to trace the freckles that dotted his face.

A half smile spread on his face while he continued sleeping soundly. Unfortunately, it was definitely time for him to get home and check in with his dad. I moved my hand to hair and rested my arm on his shoulder. "Stiles," I cooed, playing with his hair gently. With absolutely no reaction, I sighed and decided to keep up with this (ineffective) gentler approach in an attempt to be less abrasive. "Stiles, c'mon wake up, we have to get to school."

Stiles simply tightened his grip on me further until I was practically nuzzling the boy's neck. An idea suddenly popped in my head since my other approach was getting me nowhere. With a sweet smile on my face, I began lightly scratching Stiles back. He gave me a deep sigh in response. I moved to his collarbone and began placing light kisses from there to the crook of his neck. With another low sigh, I grinned to myself and began sucking and gently nipping at the skin.

He moaned lightly as his cheeks flushed a light pink. "Yeah, right there." I couldn't help but to laugh out loud at that line. To my surprise, it actually woke up Stiles who seemed surprised to see me. It took him a moment to realize where he was and what exactly just happened. "That was _so_ dirty, Daehler. So dirty," he accused with narrowed, sleepy eyes. He sat up and rubbed his eyes.

I propped myself on one elbow and smirked. "Should've woken up sooner," I shrugged, running a hand through my sure-to-be tangled hair. "Besides, Derek has woken up to worse." Stiles face scrunched up into what was supposed to be a glare, but he mostly looked hurt. I sat up quickly to throw my hands up in front of me and widened my eyes. "No wait! That's not what I meant?"

"Okay, I'm gonna ignore that and go back to sleep," he decided, rolling over and burrowing back under the covers,

"No no no no no," I argued, ripping my duvet off him. "We have to go to class, _remember_?"

Stiles sat up again with an annoyed look on his face. "I already took care of that."

Amused, I smiled while eyeing his ridiculous bedhead. "How?"

"Just go back to bed, _god_."

"Wow," I deadpanned, crawling over him to climb out of my bed. "Is that how you get all your girlfriends in bed?"

"Girlfriend?" He asked with a single eyebrow lifted.

"It sounds so lame when you say it out loud," I frowned, looking anywhere but at Stiles smug face. "Like you have to carry my books home from school."

"Only if you wear my Letterman jacket," he teased.

I snorted out a laugh. "You don't have a Letterman jacket."

"Hey, that's no way to talk to your boyfriend!"

I bit my lip to keep from smiling and crossed my arms stubbornly. My throat hurt and my head were definitely feeling terrible from the lack of sleep. "I'm gonna grab a glass of water, okay?"

"You can't be mad if all the covers are gone!" He sang while burying himself back under the covers.

"Oh, yes I can!" I mocked, fetching a ponytail holder for my hair to tame it temporarily. With another eye roll at Stiles, I left my room to head to the kitchen. It looked in the exact same condition Stiles and I left in. I stepped over the broken Jack Daniels bottle I crushed earlier and grabbed a glass from the cabinet to fill it with water from the tap that was built in the fridge. After gulping the liquid down, I stared at the refrigerator door. My dad's work schedule was posted with a single piece of tape and according to the paper; he was an hour late for work.

Setting the empty glass down, I sighed heavily and headed to his room where I could hear nothing but his TV playing. I braced myself for the worst and began knocking softly in case he was hungover. "Dad, get up. You're late," I called out through knocks. After a couple minutes of absolutely no change, I turned the doorknob until the lock budged and opened the door slowly. I cringed at the now broken lock, but continued forward anyways. I saw my dad sprawled across his unmade bed with all of his clothes, and even shoes, were still on.

With another sigh, I walked over and lightly shook him by his shoulder. "C'mon dad, wake up," I groaned. I stopped shaking out of frustration, but froze when his arm limply fell off the bed and landed on the ground with a thump. I frowned deeply and leaned toward his eerily still figure. I listened very, very closely to find a sound. Any sound. I heard Stiles sleeping beat and my own racing one. My breathing hitched once I realized that was it. There were three bodies in the building, but I could only hear _two_ beats.

But there were _three _people in this apartment.

But I could only hear two heartbeats.

_Two_.

"There's supposed to be three," I mumbled. I dropped to my knees by my dad's head and took a closer look. I blinked any tears that were threatening to appear and placed two fingers on my dad's jugular to feel for a pulse. "Dad?" I whispered after felling nothing but cool, damp skin. "Daddy?" I said louder this time although it came out more broken than I intended it to.

Two was supposed to be three.

Rising to my knees, I kept my eyes on my dad in hopes that he would eventually move or something. "Stiles?" I managed to yell. I patiently waited for him to respond, but was only met with his light snoring. "_Stiles_!" I heard a muffled fall followed by cursing. Stiles eventually made his way to and stood groggily in the doorway.

"What? What is it?"

"There's supposed to be three heartbeats," I began softly. I slowly turned my head back to my dad and stared. "But I only hear _two_."

* * *

_**Eh, idek anymore. Review?**_


	4. Unleashed

**Hello to you all and i would like to formally apologize for the surprise hiatus i took. School started and i had to move and find a job and get settled in and _all that fun adult stuff. _But anyways, this chapter is more of a filler and Charlie is a firm believer of internalizing and compartmentalizing her emotions (sometimes without even realizing it) so she'll be grieving through out the rest of the story.**

* * *

After getting over my initial shock, I had pretty much checked out for the last week. The alpha pack (already a distraction) and ritual sacrifices (an even _bigger _distraction) had been distracted by the untimely death of my father. There were obvious reasons as to why I didn't like funerals. The closer I was to the deceased, the less I wanted to attend. But the way there was hundreds of sympathetic eyes on me as I walked down the aisle, it definitely made me want to run from Beacon Hills. Far, far away.

"Didn't they just have a death in the family?"

"The son just died."

"It's just so tragic."

"They must be _cursed_."

A scoff and a not so hidden eye roll came from me as my mom and I finally made our way to our seats in the pews. She didn't bother to hide the slap that I "deserved."

Whatever. I don't even know who those people were, but they sure seemed to know me and my family enough to talk shit at my dad's funeral. I rolled my eyes again as a surge of anger rolled through me. I couldn't think of any other way to keep my shifting eyes hidden without wearing sunglasses. I cursed my superstitiousness and tried to focus on keeping a level head throughout the rest of the service. The funeral itself was a blur despite the sympathetic stares and whispers my mom and I were getting before, after, and during the service. Speaking of my mom, she put one of her cases on hold to come…home (though I wouldn't call it that permanently) to plan yet, another funeral. Since I had turned 17 over the summer, my mom decided to co-sign the lease and turn it over into my name so I wouldn't be, in a word: homeless.

The thought of living alone until graduation terrifies me to no end. But grocery shopping for myself terrifies me even more. Maybe I should ask Derek for tips on living alone. I already know what _not_ to do just from watching him. Granted, it was going to take some time for me to get used to the eerie silence around the apartment, but it is what it is.

I didn't even realize the funeral ended until everyone began standing and the pews started emptying. Refusing to ride in the hearse, my mom and I rode silently in her black Mercedes. A pair of dark Ray Bans were completely covering her eyes. She took my silently and gave it a light squeeze. And strangely, that's all we needed.

* * *

Much to my demise, there was a small, private gathering after the burial service. I would have opted out of it, but I really wanted to be there for my mom. I hadn't touch my phone let alone charged it since the morning I found my dad. It didn't surprise me to see Derek lurking around town conveniently in the same places I was. Granted, it would have been weird if he didn't check on me in the creepiest way possible. I was just glad that he was giving me space. The best he could anyways. Either way I could still deal with this internally.

I was only so lucky that I wasn't going through the textbook stages of grief otherwise I would be in denial. I mean I found the body for Christ's sake; there's no room for me to be in denial. Now I guess the only thing left for me to do is be angry, try to bargain, and then accept my dad's death. Since I already bargained before I even knew he was dead, I can check that off the list. Now all there's left for me is to be angry and accept it. I frowned at my thoughts and figured forcing myself to grieve was a terrible idea and would definitely backfire.

Unfortunately, after the gathering at the apartment, my mom had a red-eye to go back to New York where her current case was. I was in the kitchen picking over the left over food in the fridge. I could hear the steady beat of my mom's heart as she packed.

I scarfed down the last bit deviled eggs and headed to my room where my mom was residing. She didn't want to stay in the_ other_ room for obvious reasons. I watched her silently as her back was turned to me. She jumped with a start when she finally turned around. "_Jesus_, Charlotte," she yelped, placing a hand over her now racing heart.

"Sorry," I mumbled sheepishly. "How ya feeling?"

She shrugged earnestly and looked away from me. I took the advantage and stared at her features. Her eyes were red-rimmed with dark circles and bags to match. "You?"

"Like…" I began, shutting my eyes. "When I wake up, I think we're all back in the big house—all of us. Together as a family. And then I reme—"

"You remember," she finished sadly.

"And it _sucks_," I sighed while walking over and sitting to her almost full suitcase. "Mom, I know we have this deal that I finish school or whatever, but promise me you'll be careful."

"Charlo—"

"Just…_promise_ _me_," I interrupted with tears in my voice. She grabbed both my hands with hers and gave them a tight squeeze.

"As long as you promise me the same," she said with a sad smile. I nodded and stood to pull her into a hug. "And remember to stay _off_ your phone when you're out in public. Look both ways before crossing the street. Stay out of the woods at night; you don't know what's in the dark. Don't take candy from strangers—actually don't take anything from strangers. Always, always, _always_ use protection—"

"_Mom_!" I huffed, pulling away from her with a blushed face. "I'll be fine, okay?"

"I know," she agreed while pushing a few stray hairs from my face. "You're a strong girl, Charlotte."

* * *

Stiles kept a respective distance due to my own request. He put up a small fight but eventually caved when I started crying that night we found the body. Not gonna lie, I was tired of seeing the Sheriff's face because that usually meant he was around for some less than stellar news. I'm sure he feels the same way considering he wasn't in the know about all things supernatural. He probably thought I just had really bad luck. Well, he's not wrong.

A couple days after my mom left I kept myself busy by getting any missed work from school, cleaning around the apartment, and grocery shopping (which was a lot harder than it looks, okay?). Really I was just trying to keep my mind occupied while staying sane enough that wouldn't burst into tears anytime someone told me to have a nice day.

That poor kid was only doing his job.

With Paramore playing in the background quietly, I was catching up on some missed classwork. I was reading and rereading my assignment for English and so far only managed to get past the first paragraph. There was a weird scratching noise followed by cursing and more scratching until a familiar head of dark hair came into view through my window. "What the hell?" I asked incredulously. I wouldn't have been so thrown off that Stiles was still crawling through my now open window. But the thing was was that I lived on the fourth floor.

Fourth.

And Stiles Dumbass Stilinski managed to get to it. Granted I leave my window unlocked (and sometimes open) because I don't expect anyone or anything to come crawling through it in the early evening.

At least not anything I can't handle.

I watched as Stiles finally squirmed his way through my window and landed on my floor in a less than graceful manner. My eyes were wide as I remained idle in my desk chair and continued to watch the scene unfold. He straightened out his jacket while standing on his two feet. He finally looked at me as if he _just_ noticed I was there and grinned cheekily. "I missed you," he shrugged as if that explained his almost suicidal mission of climbing forty feet to get to me. He walked over without and hesitation and kissed me deeply. His hands gently gripped both sides of my face and we soon had to pull away for air.

"I missed you too," I grinned, pulling him in for a short peck. "But if you ever climb four stories to get to me again, I'll kill you."

"Empty threats, Daehler. Empty threats." Stiles shut my books behind me and grabbed my hand to pull me out of my chair. "C'mon we're going to Scott's."

My face scrunched up into a frown as he pulled me behind while we navigated through the apartment. "Why?"

"Uh, because you haven't seen him in a week and he wants to play video games," Stiles said with a scoff.

"There's someone out sacrificing people and you wanna go play video games?"

"Yes," he sighed, pushing the down button on the elevator. "I thought you could use the distraction and some awesome bonding time with your amazing boyfriend."

We stepped inside the empty elevator and I pressed the appropriate button. "I could just spend some time with my amazing boyfriend right now," I winked, pulling out my phone. "Do you by any chance happen to have Nick Jonas' phone number?"

* * *

After I convinced Stiles that Nick Jonas was _not_ my boyfriend, he caught me up from what I missed last week. Everything from finding another dead body to Isaac and Scott fighting the twins at school to even what he had eaten for dinner that week. It was nice to listen to his babbling. I didn't even realize how much I missed it until he actually shut up once we pulled up to Scott's. He flipped through his keys on his key chain and simply unlocked the door and walked through the McCall home. "Do you have _any_ boundaries on privacy?" I asked, shutting the door behind me.

"Yes," he said with a spike in his heartbeat. "No—define boundaries."

"I shouldn't have to," I playfully scolded with an eye roll.

Whatever Stiles was about to say was cut off by Isaac rushing down the stairs. He immediately came and wrapped me in a tight hug. "What brings you here?"

"Oh—uh, I live here now."

"You live here? With Scott?" Isaac nodded, but didn't bother to say anything else. "What happened to you staying at Derek's?"

He shrugged sheepishly and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Kicked me out."

"Why?"

"Said it was too much with Cora and I both there."

"That's bullshit," I scoffed.

"Right? He grew up with like a million people in his house," Stiles added.

Isaac shrugged silently again and pointed upstairs. "Scott and I were just about to start the Call of Duty marathon if you guys wanna join us?"

With their mission planned in their mind they raced upstairs while I brought up the rear. The three had taken a residence in the front of Scott's bed. They lined up with Scott in the middle and their eyes were glued on the screen. I took residence on Scott's bed with my feet at the headboard. I watched as they effortlessly scrolled through the game to get to where they needed to be. They all put in headphones and I didn't bother to suppress the eye roll at the scene that was about to unfold.

I'm not against violent video games. I'm not. I mean hey, they're objectively more fun and help me deal with my feelings. But what I am against are two werewolves and a human who gets upset if someone is bleeding to death on his precious car seats. Needless to say I wasn't too excited to watch this Call of Duty marathon was about to go down with three temperamental teenagers.

Instead I grabbed the same book Scott and I had to read for English and decided to play catch up. Isaac coughed out 'nerd' which earned him a swift slap across the back of his head.

* * *

"You dick face butt muncher!"

"What the hell does that even mean?"

"It's—"

"No, Scott I know what dick face butt muncher is," I sighed, shutting his copy of _Heart of Darkness _shut. "I'm talking about this stupid book."

Stiles turned around from his position on the floor and faced me while he balanced himself on his knees. "I could help tutor you. What is it that you don't get?"

"No offense, Stiles but I don't think I'll learn much with you as my tutor."

His face fell slightly as Isaac and Scott took it upon themselves to continue playing without him. "Why not?"

"_That's_ why," I stressed gesturing to his face. His bottom lip was poking out in confusion and his amber eyes matched as he searched my face for answers. "When you look at me like that it's really distracting."

"Like what?"

"Like _that_."

"But I'm not doing anything," he pouted, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Jesus, Stiles she's talking about sex."

"Isaac!" I scolded, giving him another slap across the back of his head. Isaac was just as unfazed from this slap as he from the first one. In fact, the fucker looked pretty pleased with himself as his eyes stayed glued on the screen.

"Uh, guys. You both have your own beds so please don't use mine," Scott butted in.

I'm 1000% sure that Stiles and I resembled tomatoes at this point. "I can't believe this is happening," I whispered low enough for Scott and Isaac to hear.

"Do you mean you won't learn much from me because I'm a...virgin?" Stiles asked quietly, only meeting my eyes for a second.

"What?"

"Please don't make me repeat that."

"Sorry, no. Sorry—I just—okay. _Jesus_, I meant we would be having sex and therefore I wouldn't _learn_ anything, you know?"

Stiles mouthed a silent 'oh' and laughed awkwardly.

"So either one of you wanna play or you wanna keep talking about your sex life?" Isaac asked as he waved around the abandoned controller.

I'm genuinely surprised that my eyes didn't stick from how hard I rolled them. I even felt the familiar warm feeling behind my eyes that signaled the color changing. "Uh, I actually have to go make dinner for my dad. You know, gotta keep him healthy," he said, standing up and straightening out his clothes.

"I'll walk you out," I announced, practically jumping off the bed and leading Stiles out of the room.

Once we were outside and at Stiles' Jeep I had calmed down but there were still traces of the blush on my face. "I'd like to formally apologize for Isaac Lahey."

Stiles let out a short, loud laugh. "And I would like to formally apologize for Scott McCall."

"It's okay, they don't know any better," I shrugged.

"Eh, kids."

* * *

After seeing Stiles off with promises of charging my phone, I trekked back inside and headed straight upstairs where Isaac and Scott were simultaneously yelling into their headsets.

"You two are incorrigible," I scolded, pointing accusingly at the pair. I got no response as their attention was fully on the game in front of them. "I swear if Matt was alive, you two would give him a run for his money," I mumbled, moving to lie down where I was earlier. At that sentence, Isaac and Scott watched me carefully and quietly as I made myself comfortable again on Scott's bed.

"What do you mean by that?" Scott asked, pausing the game.

"I mean you two are embarrassing me like I'm you're little sister."

"Well..." Isaac began slowly. "Are we doing a good job?"

"You're doing a _terrible_ job," I stressed, grabbing the extra remote off the ground.

"So we are doing a good job," Scott concluded, high fiving Isaac.

"Idiots," I growled without any real heat behind the words. After another hour of video games (and listening to curse words I didn't even know that were in Scott's vocabulary), Scott decided he was starving.

"Where ya headed?" I asked, getting up off his bed and stretching.

"Yeah, I'm in the mood for Mexican," Isaac added, standing up and towering over me.

Scott took a moment to look in between Isaac and me as if he just noticed we were there. "Uh, I was gonna go alone."

"Dude, you don't have to go eat alone," Isaac said with a frown. Scott shifted his weight from foot to foot while avoiding any eye contact from Isaac and me. His heart began hammering in his chest as he struggled to stand still.

"You're not going to get food, are you?" I asked.

"No," he admitted guilty. Isaac and I stood quietly for some sort of explanation. "Derek and I are supposed to go confront Deucalion."

Even though Stiles gave me a crash course on what I missed this week, he failed to mention anything about Scott or Derek confronting someone who calls themselves a demon wolf.

"Like I said, you're not going alone," Isaac finally said to break the silence.

I crossed my arms and stood by Isaac to show Scott I was in agreement and that there was no room for any argument. "There's no way you're confronting someone who calls himself the demon wolf."

Scott rolled his eyes shortly and sighed. "Fine, but I was serious about the food."

"Sweet," Isaac grinned.

"Wait," I interrupted. "Can you drop me off at Derek's first? Stiles was my ride and I need to go yell at Derek."

"Can I ask why?" Scott asked.

"Sure," I shrugged.

"But you're not gonna tell me," he concluded. I winked and led the way out of his room and downstairs.

* * *

I swung the loft door open with brute force and sauntered inside without skipping a beat. I spotted Derek and Cora who both seemed unimpressed by my barging into the loft. Another person standing in the corner caught me off guard. I blinked slowly as I did a triple take to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. "_Jackson_?"

"No Marley, you're not dreaming; it's really me, and I know you can't believe it," he drawled with an eye roll. I eyed him slowly up and down. He was clad in winter clothes, including a ridiculous scarf, and was much paler than he was before he left. I kept my eyes fixated on him until Derek cleared his throat.

Right, I could grill Jackson later.

"What the hell?" I asked Derek while crossing my arms. He merely continued to look at me in the same unimpressed manner. I growled lowly and glared. "What? The hell?" Cora moved to take a seat at the table behind Derek while he mirrored my stance.

"Nice to see you too," he finally said.

Ignoring his comment, I continued without a hitch. "Why'd you kick him out?"

"Isaac?"

"Yes, Isaac."

"None of your business," he stated.

"What is she talking about?" Jackson asked.

"I'm in this pack, right?" Derek nodded silently while ignoring Jackson. "Then it's my business."

"What did he tell you?"

"Bullshit," I deadpanned which earned a glare from Derek. "Scott also told me what you plan on doing tonight—I want in."

"Your father just died, you're not ready to fight," he huffed.

"I wouldn't bother," Jackson sighed from his corner of the loft. "He won't even let _me_ fight."

"You don't know how to fight," Derek argued.

"I'm a freaking werewolf; I know how to fight!"

"You've got claws and fangs; that doesn't make you a fighter."

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. "Seriously, Derek, c'mon," I whined, letting my arms fall to their sides.

"Charlie, this is a pack of alphas."

"Don't you think I know that?"

"Cora, Jackson, can we have a minute alone?" Jackson sighed loudly but moved to leave anyways. "Please?" He added as Cora made no attempt to get up. Without breaking her glare on me, she eventually got off the barstool stiffly and followed Jackson out of hearing range.

I nodded with pursed lips and gave Derek a long once over. "She's definitely _your_ sister."

"Are you sure you've had enough time?"

"Enough time for what?"

"To grieve. I know when your brother died you didn't have much time. I wanna make sure you're ready before I push you into something else."

"Right," I nodded, eyeing the tops of my Converse. "I am, I guess. I just can't stay in that place right now. It's too quiet."

"I understand," he shrugged.

I blinked slowly and looked up at Derek before choosing my next words very carefully. "I mean do you? You lived in your burnt down house for…never mind," I cut myself off to save face from the glare I was getting from Derek.

"Come one, you and Cora can spar a little before we go."

"Aw, but she hates me."

* * *

**Ah, yes I know I'm terrible with endings, but it's super late and I really really wanted to post this so here ya go. Also I really wanted Jackson back because he's fun to write and I think it'll be interesting to see him with the Hale/McCall pack. But he will _definitely _make an appearance in the next chapter~**

**Also it may come off that Stiles and Charlie are proceeding their relationship with caution and that's because they are considering the insane circumstances.**

**Review, please?**


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